Unexpected Complications
by red42goingin
Summary: Katara is rescued by Toph is a moment of extreme peril and suddenly the young water bender is seeing her friend as something...more? But does Toph feel the same? Regardless, Katara is not about to leave this question unanswered...
1. Well this is new

**_A/N - "Avatar the Last Airbender" is not my propertehh, of course. But I just thought I'd mention it. Okay ready? Once upon a time..._**

**Chapter 1: Well This is New...**

"Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!…Look out!"

"Hello! Vision impaired over here! And besides…I see it"

Toph swiftly raised a wall of hardened earth, blocking a stream of fire shot from Azula's clenched fist. Azula's face was cracked past its usual placid exterior, now bordering on crazed. Not that Toph could tell…facial features were a non-issue for her.

Katara on the other hand, was not handling the situation quite as well…

Azula and her minions had caught up to the Avatar once again. In the resulting commotion of flying elements (and boomerang), the gang had become separated from one another. Ty Lee had found Katara first – and suddenly the young water bender was defenseless. Without the ability to bend she had little else to fight with. She was pinned, paralyzed, and not ready for the end that seemed to be closing in on her…

But then _she_ arrived on the scene.

Toph was born defenseless, and therefore had to become anything but. If there was solid ground below there was no way in Hell she was going down.

Amidst the whirlwind of fighting the tiny earth bender still managed to sense her friend's frantic heartbeat trapped within a motionless body.

"Katara! Try to relax, I'll take care of this, promise!"

Ty Lee's usually successful sneak attacks were no match for Toph's feet. She was quickly sucked into a hole in the ground before she could make a jab at the blind girl's shoulder.

Katara watched with wide eyes – never in her life had she been so petrified with fear. Even more so than when the Fire Nation attacked her tribe – and that was hard to beat. She forced all her attention on the earth bender, tried to focus her mind on the spoken promise. _She'll take care of this, she'll take care of this…._over and over again like a mantra. And as she watched her savior fight, she actually started to believe it. Toph _was_ taking care of it.

* * *

Ty Lee was gone, where the hole exit was anyone's guess…if it did at all. Toph and Azula faced each other in final stand off. Azula looked insane, a ragged breath her only sound. She was no match for Toph in her current condition – who she had found and fought before this match was a mystery…hopefully whoever it was had survived.

Azula managed to somewhat gather herself, her breathing regulated. "I tire of this fight. You have talent earth peasant, I give you that. But I have bigger fish to smash."

"Peasant? You have _no_ idea who you're talking about, you crazy chick!"

At the word "crazy" a flash of insanity reappeared in Azula's eyes, before she quickly willed it away. "Say what you will, I have absolutely no need to concern myself with the likes of you. Not now, not ever." With that, Azula dashed off through the trees.

A smirk appeared on Toph's blind face…"You're lyinggg….."

* * *

Katara watched Azula run off, a wave of relief washed over her and with it, the last of her need to cling to consciousness. Her eyes snapped shut and she was gone. She knew Toph would take her body to a safe place. Toph always seemed to make things right.

Toph walked over to Katara "You pass out Sugar Queen?" No answer. Toph nudged her slightly with a tiny foot. Still no response. "I'll take that as a yes." Toph began to haul Katara up onto her back, before quickly realizing the size difference, and Katara's 'sack of potatos' state, wasn't going to work. "Gah, okay putting you down now!"

Toph exhaled, "Okay Sweetness, I guess I can't leave you or take you with. So we're staying put." Toph roughly plopped herself down next to Katara in a huff, wriggling the tension of the fight out of her toes. Katara had landed in a way that clearly showed she had no feeling in her body. Toph felt her friend's positioning with a palm to the ground, "Whoops".

Very gently (given the source), the young girl moved Katara's tan arms out of their twisted orientation above her head and under her waist and rolled her onto her back.

Toph stared at Katara, whose heart rate had slowed to a peaceful rhythm. "Jeez Katara what am I, your mom?" Katara remained silent, a small smile gracing her face, not that Toph could tell. "Well…I guess I can play the role for once"

* * *

The two sat in silence for a long while, Toph feeling the ground for signs of her two remaining friends. She began to grow nervous when nothing caught on her radar. She started to talk to Katara more and more for self-comfort.

"Hey remember that time we got all dressed up and fancy in Ba Sing Se? That was pretty fun, well…not really – but then when we dropped those stuck up girls off the bridge, it got better." Katara stayed asleep. Toph remembered what Katara had said about her that day: that she was beautiful. She could have been a gorgeous, national treasure of a girl and it wouldn't make a difference in her blind eyes. Thinking on this, Toph suddenly felt compelled to learn a little more about her one true female friend…

Being careful, as if now would _finally_ be the moment she regained consciousness, Toph ran a hand over Katara's face.

But as luck would have it, she _did_ wake up. Katara felt a foreign hand on her face and forced her eyes to stay shut, pretending to still be asleep so whoever it was wouldn't hurt her. Her heartrate spiked, Toph felt it. "Uh oh Sweetness, you having a nightmare?" Realizing it was Toph and not a stranger, Katara began to calm down. But for some reason, only slightly…

Toph ran a small yet strong hand over Katara's face. The skin of her palm had been blistered so many times that smooth calluses had formed below her fingers and on the heel. The juxtaposition of the strong rough hand and the silky fragility of the skin on Katara's face felt pleasant to her. She wanted to let Toph know she was awake, but something inside seemed to hold her back.

Toph felt Katara's forehead "Wow, you kinda' have a big noggin!" Katara struggled not to narrow her eyebrows in anger. Toph's hand moved down to her eyes, gently gliding fingertips over the lids with a touch so light, Katara questioned if she was only imagining it._ How can this be the same girl who smashed a boulder with her face five minutes ago? _Or, had it only been 5 minutes? Katara knew she should be worried about how long she'd been out. But strangely, her mind could only focus on the moment - otherwise she might miss the whisper touches happening across her face.

Toph moved down to Katara's nose, running a finger lightly over the bridge to feel the size. "Hmm, well at least this isn't as big as your megabrow…" _Grr…don't do anything Katara, fight the urge to smack! _

Toph then cradled the side of Katara's face in her palm and rubbed her thumb along the right cheek, slowly and gently, as if afraid that when pressed too hard the skin would crack. Katara knew Toph was only feeling what she looked like, but the move felt…strangely intimate, and Katara felt the urge to push her cheek further into the warmth of Toph's hand. _Woah, what? NO…Toph, this is Toph here. Not Aang, TOPH._

Katara began a tangent of convincing herself the feeling was simply one of friendship and comfort. And after the horror of a day they'd had, she just wanted to be by someone, _anyone_, kind and soothing. _Yeah, that MUST be it_.

But then Toph moved down to Katara's mouth, running her index finger along her bottom lip in a soft, fluid motion. The movement was slow, wanting to absorb every delicate detail. Toph began to feel along the top lip but stopped short. There was no way Katara could reason her way out of this one, because immediately, she was blushin'!

Toph couldn't see the redness but she sure could feel the heat. "Oh no Katara, you have a fever now too?" Before the Water Bender knew what was happening Toph had her cheek pressed against her forehead in an attempt to get a clear temperature read. "You do! Well that's it, obviously we're gonna' have to find you some water!" With that Toph hopped up and started to lift Katara by the armpits. Katara's eyes shot open. _Ahh what just happened? I must be losing my mind! _The blind girl began to drag Katara by her torso – the gentleness was gone, back to the same old Toph. As Katara's butt hit a particularly sharp pebble in the ground she snapped back to reality. Time to "wake up".

"T..Toph, is that you?"

"Katara! You're finally awake!" In her jubilation Toph released Katara's arms. The taller girl fell onto her back with a thud. "Whoops!" Toph dropped to her knees to help her up, "Sorry bout' that."

"It's okay. How long was I out?"

"About 2 hours, I was starting to get kinda' freaked out…"

_She was..worried about me? Wow I…wait, OF COURSE she was worried, we're friends aren't we? You'd be worried about her too…nothing weird about tha….._

"TWO HOURS!"

"Yeah, you must have been really scared, burned up all your adrenaline."

Katara remembered the fight, the heat resonating off the battle, that look on Azula's face, and then Toph, with those pale eyes that somehow managed to radiate complete confidence and strength when she stared at you like…

"Katara your fever's getting worse!"

"…Huh? Oh, oh no..it, it's nothing really! I just.." Toph jumped up.

"That's the final straw!" With a stomp of her foot a three-sided box appeared around Katara, however, this box had a roof. "Toph, what is this?"

"I have to go look for the boys, and some water for you. Now that you're awake I can't wait around here anymore, but you can".

Katara suddenly realized the boys were nowhere to be seen, a terrible tightness clutched her chest. "Oh no, where's Sokka and Aang!" In her frantic state Katara shot up and hit her head on the roof of the "hut", knocking her back down. Toph quickly sent her creation back into the dirt and approached Katara, who was rubbing the top of her head and wincing in pain.

Toph gently removed Katara's hand and massaged skilled fingers into her hurt scalp. "Don't be scared Katara, I'm sure they made it okay. Sokka always comes through in a pinch and Aang is..well, the Avatar." Inside Toph was actually quite worried for Sokka but right now she needed to be especially strong for her friend.

The combination of worry, fatigue, hunger, and confusion over certain strange new _feelings_ became too much a load for Katara to bear. Bursting into tears, she thrust forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Toph's waist, sobbing deeply into her emerald robes.

Toph stopped massaging and started stroking Katara's head. She began to whisper, "You're very brave Katara, you know that?" Katara managed to interrupt her crying, "How can you say that! I've been completely useless this whole day, you had to save me, and take care of me…and you still are now!"

"Hey everyone has off days. Some days you just seem to bump into everything, some days you can't stop tripping over your own feet…and some days, a perky girl from the circus ambushes you in the woods."

Katara let out a tired chuckle, "_You_ never have days like that." Toph smiled, "Yeah well, we can't all be the Greatest Earth Bender Alive."

Toph gently removed Katara's already loosening arms and raised the earth hut once again. She kneeled down and "looked" into Katara's eyes. Toph found that people with vision seemed to like when you met their gaze.

"Regardless of what I find, I'll be back for you…" Toph extended her hand to feel Katara's face. When she found her forehead, she leaned forward and gave it a small kiss. "soon." Katara didn't respond. Toph stood up and turned away. As she walked off she raised the fourth wall of the hut, leaving a small window in the front. Katara stared after Toph as she walked off. Her third eye chakra tingled where Toph had left her mark.

And indeed, Katara did feel enlightened.

* * *

**_A/N - Well what do you know, love's a bloomin'! Or is it? Are Aang and Sokka still alive? We can only hope so...I'd really love to hear from you guys so if you have the time, please let me know what you think! Suggestions are always welcome as well. _**


	2. Sibling Rivalry

_**A/N - Alright, time for the adventure to continue. Please let me know what you think of this story so far and what you'd like to see in the future. I'd looove to hear from you! And when you're reading, know that the dialogue in bold means they're shouting from a far distance. **_

**Chapter 2: Sibling Rivalry**

Katara sat still and stared out the tiny window Toph had left her. In a normal state of mind, she probably would have imagined herself as one of the tiny icetoads Sokka and she used to trap in a box then poke in air holes. But she was _not_ in a normal state of mind. Toph kissed her forehead and then everything got fuzzy. Her brain and her soul were slow, warm, and numb. But her heart was going fast enough for the both of them.

* * *

Toph walked through the forest looking for her male companions. Finally out of Katara's sight, she began to let her worry show. "Sooookka! Aaaaang!" No answer. She felt nobody nearby. She yelled again, this time her voice uncharacteristically cracking. Could Azula have captured them perhaps? This was not going well.

The ground showed no signs of a struggle either. What the Hell was going on? The river that Toph had felt growing closer as she walked was finally within earshot. At least one part of the mission could be accomplished.

Realizing she had nothing to carry water back in, Toph chose a nicely sized rock and inverted one half to make a bowl. "Hey, mineral enhanced…"

She approached the river. As the swimming-challenged girl got close to the flowing water she became very cautious with her footing. One slip and it could be all over. She'd be dead, and Katara would be trapped in a rock box forever. Maybe she should have put in some sort of emergency exit…

Toph began leaning down to scoop water when something hit her on the head. "Ahhh!" Frantic not to fall into the river, Toph thrust a fist forward, pushing her body back through the earth that had suddenly become soft sand. She jumped to her feet and formed the "bowl" back into a solid rock, ready to pelt it at someone's face. "Alright who's there? Come and get some!"

"**Up here!**"

Toph did not look up for doing so would be useless. But she did recognize the voice, "**Sokka!**"

"**Toph, help! Get me down!**"

"**What am I supposed to do? Are you okay, where's Aang?**"

"**He's the one who put me up here! Then he took off on his glider!**"

Toph looked puzzled. She placed an ear to the tree and tapped on the bark sharply. "Hmm…**How high up are you?**"

"**I dunno…uhh, about 3 Appa's worth!**"

"**Length or height!**"

"**Len!**.."

Sokka was cut off by a large pillar of earthen stairs shooting up directly in front of his face. The gust of wind blew back his disheveled wolf tail.

"gth. Well…that'll work."

* * *

Carefully, very carefully, Sokka made his way down the stairs, scooting on his butt rather than walking on his God given feet.

"**Sokka! Come on, we don't have time for sissyness!**"

"**Just give me a minute!**"

Not good enough. Toph stomped the ground and transformed the stairs into a slide. Sokka screamed the whole way down.

As he reached the bottom he flew forward, crashing into an unprepared Toph. Sokka landed on top. He looked down at the young Earth Bender he just used as a landing pad.

"Toph!" He stood up, taking her tiny body with him, squeezing it in a tight hug, "I'm so glad you're okay! You are okay right? Have you seen Katara? Is she alright?"

Toph was dumbfounded by the tackle…and the hug.

"Uh…Yes! I'm okay, she's okay. She's sick though, running a fever."

"Oh no…that's it though right? No broken bones…or, um."

"Yes, everything else is fine. Your sister is in tact."

"Oh thank the spirits…I should have known though, she's as tough as nails."

"..That she is."

"And you're sure you're okay too?" Sokka whispered and placed a hand on Toph's thin shoulder. Toph quickly tried to shield her face further with her hair.

"Uhh, of course, Sokka! Come on, who you think you're talkin' to here!" Toph began to laugh a bit too vigorously for a sane person, "Ahahaahaha!"

"Riiiight, well I guess we should find Aang so we can get my sister and leave this terrible forest once and for all." Sokka began to walk in the direction he had seen Aang take off. Toph lingered a moment.

"W..wait, Sokka?"

"Yeah?"

"Umm..I kind of, hurt my leg..fighting Azula."

"YOU fought Azula? Toph, why didn't you say so? You must be exhausted!"

"Well I mean it wasn't that bad..I just.."

Sokka quickly turned around and lowered his body, "Here, climb on."

"Oh no Sokka, you don't need to do that..I'll be.."

"Just get on!"

"Okay."

Toph hopped up on Sokka's back with the ease of someone who hadn't just battled a prodigy fire nation princess and her acrobat friend.

* * *

Katara sat cross-legged in her box and drew doodles in the dirt with her finger, thinking about the events of that day and hoping she would see her friends and brother again soon. Suddenly a sound caught her ear. It couldn't be Toph, she would have made her presence known, intentionally or not.

Katara realized she had nothing to fight with should whoever it was be an Earth Bender who could remove her hut. Pushing grossness aside, she spit into her hand and quickly formed it into a very small thin dagger. Not much to fight with but it would have to do. If only she had been sweating this whole time, maybe she'd have a whole knife by now. Curse this cool weather!

Katara was now crouched down low sitting on the balls of her feet, her hand pressed on a stone wall, ready to spring out and attack should the hut come down.

A pair of grey eyes appeared in the small window.

"Hello, is somebody in here?"

"Aang!"

"Katara, is that you?"

Using his newly acquired earth bending skills, Aang lowered the hut. Not doing quite as clean of work as his teacher would have, but still getting the job done.

"It is you!" Katara embraced Aang in a hug, elated to know he was okay.

"Are you alright Katara, did somebody trap you in there?"

Katara smiled, "No I wasn't trapped. Toph put me in there, for protection."

"….protection? But what if?.."

"Yeah I don't think she thought that far ahead…but it was still sweet."

"And that means Toph's okay too! I'm so glad. I don't know what I would have done if you guys were hurt because of me…"

Something suddenly landed with a loud thud and Katara was slurped from behind, "Appa! Haha, I'm glad to see you too!"

* * *

As Sokka and Toph made their way through the woods, Toph felt the thump. With her feet elevated she still knew it was most likely one thing…even Sokka, with his eye sight, knew what it meant,

"Appa!"

"It has to be! Alright Toph, hold on tight."

Sokka hiked Toph further up his back to secure her. She gingerly pulled her arms closer around his shoulders.

"Come on, tighter than that!"

Toph wrapped her arms just below Sokka's neck, essentially hugging him from behind.

"That's better. Lets go!"

Sokka took off running (surprising fast) in the direction of the thud.

* * *

Momo, who had been hiding in the scruff of fur atop Appa's head, had reappeared and circled Katara's neck and torso like he was on a sugar rush.

"Woah Momo! Slow down, slow down boy!

"I'm really glad you're okay, Katara.."

"I'm glad you're okay too Aang. I'm so relieved that all of us made it through in one piece I can't even tell you. We should go get Toph now…and Sokka down from that tree."

"No I mean…uh, well when you ran off and we saw Ty Lee follow. I um..can't remember ever being so scared."

"…Really?"

"Yeah I mean, I wanted to help you but then Azula and that other girl, plus there was fire nation soldier..I just wanted to.."

"Aang, if you're implying that it was somehow you're fault, don't."

"But I wanted to protect you."

"That's nice but, I don't need protecting all the time you know." _Although I guess this time isn't a great example…_

"I didn't mean it like that…"

"I know you didn't, and I appreciate you're concern, Aang." Katara smiled sweetly at the Avatar.

A moment passed...

"Katara, I was thinking…"

"**Hey you guys!**"

* * *

Sokka began to run the home stretch, "Toph I see them!"

"No kidding, I thought you were yelling at some other guys."

Sokka was too excited to come up with a retort. Toph rested her chin on his shoulder for a moment. Maybe she teased Sokka a bit too much…he was sarcastic and jaded enough as it was, who was she to make it worse?

Sokka came to a screeching hault in front of his sister and the Avatar.

"Baby sister!"

"Sokka!"

Sokka planted a big kiss on Katara's cheek, exaggerating the sound of the smack. He held his sister at arms length and then began to walk around her, examining any potential damage.

"Stop Sokka, I'm fine. You didn't get hurt coming down the tree did you?"

"Nope! Toph helped me down."

"Toph..helped you too?"

Toph suddenly poked her head out from behind Sokka's back, where he had forgot she was still clinging in all the excitement.

"Umm, hey."

"Ahhh!"

How had Katara not noticed a person on her brother's back? Especially the person who had consumed her mind all afternoon...

Toph climbed down, "Sorry Katara, didn't mean to startle you…", she turned to Sokka, "Thanks for carrying me, Sokka."

"No problem Toph, it's the least I could do!" Sokka patted the top of Toph's head, gently ruffling her hair.

A hint of light pink appeared on the young girl's cheeks. But unlike Toph, Katara _could_ see when someone blushed, however slight.

And she did not like what she saw.

* * *

**_A/N - Uh oh, it seems Toph may have a lil crush on the wrong member of the water tribe...will Katara step up to the plate? I'll give you a hint: yes. Please review!_******


	3. Back in the Game

**A/N: So it probably needs to be said: This story takes place sometime during the last 3rd of Book 2: Earth. If you're wondering why they were outside of Ba Sing Se in the first place – it was an attempt to lead Azula away from the city and off their trail for a few days, for fear she'd attack the city (not a bad guess, eh?) But the plan backfired, Azula was one step ahead, as tends to be her way. Now (thinking Azula has retreat) the gang will make their way back to Ba Sing Se in an attempt to tell the Earth King about the solar eclipse, not knowing that Azula is on her way there with ze drill. Okay, so lets continue shall we?**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 3: Back in the Game**

It was a two-day hike back to Ba Sing Se. Everyone wanted desperately to climb aboard Appa and fly there, making it back in a mere three hours, but they all knew the risk of Azula spotting them again was too great. And with the news of the impending solar eclipse in their minds, they couldn't take any chances. The Earth King needed to know, the fate of the world depended on it. Currently, they were on day two of their hike. But the day was still young.

Toph "looked" at Appa with longing, "Can we at least ride on his back? It may take longer on foot but at least _we_ don't have to walk."

Katara's knee jerk reaction was to scold the young girl about letting the fluffy beast have a break once in a while too, and that they all needed to carry their own weight. But she found herself biting her tongue more and more often over the past day and a half.

Walking in silence had given Katara much needed time to think about the strange feelings she had been having over Toph. For a while she continued trying to deny and justify them as much as she could, but after about five hours of trying to convince herself, she realized it was futile.

_Enough denial, Katara. The first step is admitting you have a problem. _She looked up from the ground to see her older brother leading the pack, and Toph standing right by his side. Too close to his side… _Yeah, a big, loud-mouth, smart-assed problem. _

Katara didn't exactly _like_ being peeved with her brother, especially over something beyond his control. But hey, it's not like she wasn't used to it.

_I guess the real question is…does he like her back?_

The past few hours had made in painfully clear to Katara that Toph indeed had interest in her older brother. She had no idea how she hadn't noticed it before. Probably because Toph made such efforts to hide it. But now that Katara was on to her, each passing moment of fraternization made her more and more sick to stomach.

Toph poked Sokka in the arm, "Hey maybe you could be my Appa again, aye Snoozles?"

The two laughed, completely unaware that Katara was staring daggers at the back of Sokka's head, practically boring holes into it.

_Stupid Sokka, what does he have that's so great? A lame"wolf tail"? Who calls it that? That's a pony tail, Sokka! You can't just change the name to make it manly!_

Sokka poked Toph back in her ribs, making her giggle slightly. With anyone else this wouldn't seem out of the ordinary at all. But Toph wasn't exactly a normal girl…

_Is she..giggling? Oh GOSH Toph, give it a rest already, you're all over the guy! Where's your pride?_

Sokka smirked, "Well you're not exactly heavy to carry, but I think you'd make Momo jealous." He gestured to the half-asleep lemur draped over his shoulders, who twitched an ear upon hearing his name. But it wasn't Momo she should worry about being jealous…

"_Ooh look at me Toph, I'm good with animals too, aren't I wonderful?" Shut up Sokka, nobody cares!_

_What exactly does he have that I don't?_

…

Realizing the blatant answer to her own question, and how ridiculous her frustration was, Katara dropped her head and sighed. She stopped in her tracks and slumped forward.

Her companions did not notice at first that she had fallen behind and continued walking. Katara lifted her head slowly, it felt like the stress was slowly turning her brain to lead.

As she looked up she saw a trickle of smoke rising up from the trees in the distance.

Katara squinted, the smoke didn't look right - its color was orange. She shaded her eyes with a hand, thinking maybe she was seeing things. But it remained a deep shade of near crimson.

"What is that?"

The others stopped and turned around. Directing their vision to where Katara was staring (those with sight at least), they saw another flume of smoke rising into the sky, this time a bright blue.

Even Aang, who had been around much longer than his friends, had never seen it before, "Colored smoke?"

Sokka glared at the sky, "Fire nation…"

Aang wasn't convinced, "I don't know about that Sokka, the fire nation doesn't have any sort of colorful fire weapons that I've ever seen. Besides it looks kinda nice, why would they wanna' do that?"

As he spoke, another twisting spiral of green smoke rose into the sky. Sokka begin to argue that it was probably some new signal the Fire Nation had to tell each other how many people had been in the village they destroyed, what time of benders lived there, etc. But he was interrupt.

"Lets go."

Katara began walking towards the smoke. The others looked at her, surprised.

Sokka tried using his brotherly authority, "No Katara! It's fire nation and we don't have time to get wrapped up in something like this!"

Katara turned around and glared menacingly at her brother. He softened,

"Please Katara, not this time. We have to stop making side trips, we're running out of time."

Katara turned back around and continued walking forward

"Katara, listen to me! You know this is not the time to do this! Stop it, RIGHT NOW!"

Katara stopped in her tracks again, rage burning in her ears. Was Sokka trying to order her around on top of everything else? An awkward silence seemed to stretch on forever.

Aang tried to break it,

"Katara, I know you wanna' make sure everything is okay over there, I do too. But maybe…uh, maybe Sokka's right. I mean, we have been making a lot of stops and…"

Toph could feel Katara's rage about to hit the roof. Something she had never felt from the Water Bender before. She needed to help her friend, immediately.

"I'll go with you Katara."

The boys stared at the tiny girl, "Toph, what did I just tell Katara? No means no and we.."

"I'LL go with her, Sokka. You and Aang get to Ba Sing Se."

This time Aang put his light foot down, "No Toph, we can't split up, it's too dangerous."

"Katara and I were separated from you two and everything turned out fine. We'll just check it out and act accordingly. It's probably nothing, and we may even catch up to you before you reach the wall."

Katara still had her back facing the three but her eyes were wide with surprise at Toph's words. Was she really choosing her over Sokka? Hope suddenly sprung into her heart where anger had filled to the brim. And Katara was a big fan of hope…

Aang looked at Katara with big soulful eyes, not wanting to leave her side again after something so traumatic, "Maybe we should all just go check it out..."

"OR maybe NONE of us should because we are RUNNING OUT OF TIME!" Sokka screamed. He turned to face Toph,

"Don't give into her Toph, she's just throwing a tantrum to get her way when she _knows _that we have a deadline we've been ignoring. And I don't need you making it worse by agreeing to go along with it!"

Sokka was seething. Deep down he had been scared to death about potentially losing his sister a mere day ago, and it was manifesting itself as anger. Which was now being directing towards poor Toph. Katara had seen her brother like this on rare occasions and knew now that he had found a target for his rage, he wasn't going to hold back.

"You think that because you try to act so damn tough all the time that you can make stupid rash decisions like that? Katara may act like a snot sometimes but _at least_ she's not a spoiled brat!"

"That's ENOUGH, Sokka!"

All eyes had shot to Katara, who turned back around slowly. She hated that Toph liked her brother, but she also knew that by yelling at the young girl, he was breaking her heart. And she hated that even more.

"Don't talk to her like that! And don't talk to ME like that! You have no right to treat us this way, I don't care how worried you are!"

Sokka glared at his sister for a moment, but she had hit the nail on the head. He let his face drop, sorrow showing in his eyes. He took a deep breath, "Sorry, Toph. I didn't mean it like that. I just…well, Katara already said it."

Sokka looked like he was on the verge of tears, a place he rarely reached. Katara had no anger or jealousy left toward her brother. How could she hate her other (biologically, of course) half?

Katara walked forward and wrapped her arms around Sokka, who accidentally let a couple tears slide out. She was the only one he would let see him in this state. He whispered into his sister's ear, defeated, "Fine, you win Katara, I'll go with you. Can we please just try to be fast about it?"

"No Sokka, Toph's right. You and Aang need to get the word to Ba Sing Se."

"No! Please Katara, you can't ask me to leave you again."

Katara hugged her brother even tighter as a couple more tears were released, "I'll be okay Sokka, you know I can handle myself. And if I ever slip, Toph will be there for backup. Please trust me, brother."

Sokka stood up straight, quickly wiping the moisture from his eyes before anyone could see (as if they didn't notice). "I guess you _are_ a couple of tough ladies…"

"The toughest." Toph whispered with a smile, somehow holding no grudge even though Sokka's words had cut her to the core.

Sokka smiled at the two girls then looked to Aang, who after a few seconds of contemplation nodded his head in approval. He wasn't thrilled about the plan either, but he knew in his soul that these two could handle pretty much anything.

Sokka inhaled and pulled back his shoulders, attempting to get back his so-called manliness, "Okay Katara, you have one day. If you aren't back at Ba Sing Se by tomorrow, I'm coming back to get you both…"

"Okay Sok.."

"AND I'm flying on Appa! So if Azula sees, you'll only have yourself to blame…"

"Okay Sokk.."

"AND I don't want you trying to fix some town's long term problems. If it's not something you can solve in a day, leave it and we'll come back with reinforceme.."

"OKAY SOKKA!"

Sokka released the breath, "…Okay then, so we're clear?"

"Yes. Crystal clear." Katara smiled sweetly at her brother.

"Good…well alright then."

Katara kissed her brother on the cheek. His attempt at sternness was transparent as air to her, "I love you, Sokka. Please don't worry, I'll see you soon."

Sokka reached out and squeezed his sister's hand, "I love you too, little gal. But I'm going to anyway…just a little."

The tension finally eased, the two groups made their separate ways. As they walked away Sokka took one finally look at Katara over his shoulder. She looked back as well, catching his final worried glance. She smiled and blew him an exaggerated kiss. Sokka smiled and waved back. He breathed a sigh. He was worried of course, but his sister _was_ tough as nails. He had said so himself.

* * *

Katara and Toph walked through the trees towards the smoke, with the taller girl leading for obvious reasons. Katara was concerned for what they might find at the end of their trail, but was also elated that she and Toph were alone…without her being unconscious. AND Toph had stood up for her! To SOKKA! Her heart jumped at the mere thought of it.

"So can you feel anything up ahead, Toph?

"Sort of, this underbrush is making it kind of fuzzy. But I'm not sensing anything too ominous. Looks like it might be a town, not enough metal for it to be a factory or something."

"Well that's probably a good sign."

The two continued in silence for a few moments.

"I uh, wanted to thank you."

"For?"

"Just, you know, standing up to Sokka I guess."

"Oh that. Not a problem, Sweetness. Boys need to be put in their place once in a while."

Katara felt this was a good an opportunity as any. She had to have more information or she was going to go crazy.

"Well it must have been hard for you. Standing up to Sokka I mean, as opposed to say, Aang for example."

"Well Twinkle Toes is kind of a push over unless he's gone all glowy."

"Aang _is_ gentler than Sokka by nature, I'll give you that….but, that's not exactly what I meant..."

"Then what did you mean?"

This was it, now or never.

"Well…_gah, you already know the answer, Katara! So just confirm it!_ Toph, do you have a _thing_ for Sokka?"

Toph turned a shade of pale pink, already answering the question.

"Well, I….::sigh:: look, you can't tell him okay?"

_Well, damn. Can't say I couldn't hope for a miracle._

"Sure Toph, your secret's safe with me."

_Bleh!_

The two girls came out of the forest and into the clearing, the colorful smoke now directly above their heads. Toph was right; it was indeed a city, however…

"Well Katara, what's the deal with the smoke?"

"It's, uh…"

"Welcome strangers! Happy Three Nations Day!"

They had all be traveling so much, losing track of so much time, that they forgot it was Three Nations Day – the biggest celebration of the year.

"Come, come! This way!"

A man dressed in his Three Nations Day best gently but firmly pushed the two girls through the entrance of the city, where they were immediately swallowed up by the commotion. The smell of treats being cooked was all around and people wore festive hats and colorful outfits everywhere.

Katara lost sight of Toph for a moment. She yelled out, "Toph! We need to hurry back before the boys get too far. This isn't an emergency at all!"

Katara spun around looking for her love interest. When she finally spotted her, Toph was being hoisted up on the Three Nations Day Chair laughing and smiling, surrounded by people blowing noisemakers. A bright gold paper top hat with a green ribbon around it had been placed on her head on her way up with the chair.

Katara stopped and stared a moment. Then she smiled mischievously, "Well, maybe we could stay, just a little while…" _Get ready, Toph, _

**A/N – Hazah! Happy Three Nations Day! It used to be Four Nations but well, you know, the fire nation doesn't play nice (the air nomads are still honored)…Stay tuned, stuff is about to go down with these ladies! And please review, I looove hearing from readers and they give me the strength to update faster!**


	4. Bad Medicine

**A/N - Sorry about the delay folks, responsibilities got in the way, boooo! Thanks to those who have reviewed, I lovez it! As always, please let me know what you think! Alright, on with the show! PS - Yes, this chapter is named after a Bon Jovi song. I can't help it, I love hair metal...**

**Chapter 4: Bad Medicine**

The festival swirled around Katara like a tornado of sounds and colors. She was on sensory overload and loving every minute of it. Back at the Southern Water Tribe they never celebrated Three Nations Day like this!

A large group made their way through the streets, grabbing bystanders to increase their size and they went. Katara followed along with them. She had to because the little earth bender she arrived at the city with has being carried along, raised above the confetti-covered ground in a chair.

Katara had tried to remain indifferent to the merriment at first, simply following the group nonchalantly. But they would have none of that, and suddenly she was dancing right along with them – laughing and twirling a noisemaker with a loud clacking sound.

Toph had been lifted off the ground for so long that she had lost "sight" of Katara. She moved her head to the left, then right, hoping to catch her friend's voice. She turned around in the chair, sitting up on her knees. Cocking her head to the side, her ear was filled with the melodious sound of Katara's laughter.

"Katara! You down there?"

Katara stopped spinning her toy and looked up. This festival had put her in a silly mood she rarely allowed herself,

"How's the weather up there!"

Toph paused for a moment, surprised at not being scold. Her face lit up with a grin, "Help me get down, wouldya?"

Katara maneuvered her way through the crowd, flowing as easily as her element. She positioned herself in front of Toph's perch, "Jump down, I'll catch you!"

As soon as the words left Katara's lips she realized what she had just said. Her breath hitched, what was this town doing to her? _Toph…in my arms?_

Katara had no time to freak out though, as the younger girl wanted down immediately. A small foot lightly touched the top of her head and she looked up to see Toph, a scared look on her face, feeling the invisible world beneath to find her friend.

Katara chuckled, and took Toph's foot in her hand, removing it from her head,

"I'm right here Toph! Don't worry, I won't let you fall."

"Ah..okay, you'd better not."

Toph slid forward in the chair and dropped.

Katara caught the blind bandit, now holding her bridal style. Not surprisingly, she was not heavy in her arms. _Toph...here…holding…_

Katara felt like she had somehow managed to melt her brain to water and her heart started beating a mile a minute. She knew Toph would feel it – blind or not, anybody pressed this close to her body would notice.

The girl in her arms looked up, confusion on her face. She needed to act fast. Knowing exercise would be a viable excuse for a quickened heart rate, Katara begin to weave her way through the crowd once again, keeping Toph held close to her.

Never really experiencing anything like this before, and having no idea what was going on without her feet on the ground, Toph clung to Katara with wide eyes, getting dizzy. As Katara spun in a circle to avoid running into a large, somewhat tipsy man, Toph let out a small gasp and clung even closer for dear life.

Katara felt Toph grab at her and clamp her eyes shut tightly. A useless gesture, but pretty universal for "please make it stop!"

Katara smirked. She _had_ planned on swaying Toph's opinion of her brother while they were there…She looked towards the back of the crowd, it had gotten significantly larger since they arrived. And although she _could_ just walk off to the side, set Toph down and wait for the group to pass, where was the fun in that? _Well, no time like the present. Forgive me Toph…_

Katara continued her way through the crowd, purposely moving in ways most likely to make Toph cringe and burrow deeper into her arms. Evil? Maybe a bit. Effective? Definitely.

Besides, the earth bender had done her fair share of tormenting. Katara was really just trying to balance out her karma, it was a kind thing really…

Katara continued her twisting path towards the back of the pack. She smiled down at the petrified little Toph in her arms. Why did cute things look even cuter when they were in turmoil? Katara ignored that twisted thought, logging it away to feel guilty about later.

"Katara! What's going on? I want the ground!"

"Hold on Toph, I'm getting us through the crowd!"

"Just put me down, I'll make us a way through, the hard way!"

"Now now Toph, where's your Three Nations Day spirit!"

She was beginning to have a bit too much fun with this, which was actually working out in her favor as Toph let out a small chirp of fear and wrapped her arm's tightly around Katara's neck.

Katara only took this as fodder for her mischievous fire. She began to move and weave to the beat of the music playing around them. Toph clamped a hand over her mouth,

"Katara, we need to stop spinning…"

"We're almost there, Toph. I can see it now!"

Katara ducked under a swinging lasso, pulling Toph close to her chest as she did. But as she stood up straight again to continue her spinning and dodging, Toph did the unthinkable…

"Ehh…sorry. I tried to tell you…"

Katara froze in her tracks. Unable to move as Toph's breakfast made it's second appearance, down the front of her coat.

* * *

Toph sat on an empty crate outside a shop, still looking a little green. Katara emerged from said shop along with a couple burlap sacks of supplies. She crouched down next to her queasy friend, emptying the contents of the bags.

"I brought some sort of drink that settles an upset stomach, and a new set of clothes for both of us. The owner said we could change in the shed behind her shop."

Toph stared blankly.

"You alright?"

"Just a little dizzy still. I'm really sorry about that Katara. You wouldn't think a blind person could get motion sickness…but, the proof in on our clothes I guess."

Katara was immediately struck with guilt.

"Oh no, Toph please don't feel bad! It's really no big deal. Living with Sokka has made me pretty immune to gross things."

Katara mentally slapped herself at mentioning Sokka, even if it was in the context of him being disgusting. She tried to quickly change the subject before it led to her brother any further,

"Okay, let's open this up!" She untied the lid of the wooden cup of 'Stomach Ease' and gave it a tiny sniff. _Bleh!_

"Well…I'm sure it's not as bad as it smells?"

"Nice try. Hand it here, I'm just gonna' chug it down."

Toph took the cup and began to down its contents remarkably fast. She finished and let out a tiny burp, wiping the excess with the back of her hand.

"Feel better?"

Toph paused.

"I think I'm gonna' throw up again…"

Once more clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Ahh, okay okay! Here lean forward, put your head on your knees!"

Toph did as she was instructed, breaking into a cold sweat as her body prepared for round two.

Katara remained by her side, slowly stroking her clammy back. Luckily Toph's hair was already pulled back out of the spray zone.

"It's okay Toph, just take deep breaths…"

The owner of the shop walked outside for a moment to survey the festival. She saw the young woman who had just purchased her wares kneeling by a tiny, ill-looking girl,

"Oh no, is everything okay?"

Katara looked up at the kindly woman she had seen moment before.

"The medicine seemed to make it worse, she drank it and look what happened!"

"Well of course it did, I thought that _you_ needed it!"

Toph let out a small groan. Katara was becoming worried by the woman's words,

"What do you mean!"

"Well you mentioned you were a water bender when I asked about your clothes, and I assumed the drink was for you!"

Toph somehow shot up in her seat, "Don't you know what happens when you assume things lady!" Her head fell back to her knees as she let out another groan.

Katara was becoming angry as well, "So what did you sell me?"

"Well your friend doesn't look like a water bender at all…"

"She's an earth bender, what did you sell me?"

Katara stood up menacingly, her protection mode suddenly triggering,

"I..I'm sorry, I thought the blue label on the cup would have explained enough.."

"Why would I know that? You know, _never mind_! Just tell me what's wrong with her, what can I do?"

"I'll get you a neutralizing agent, free of charge! Just wait here, I'll be right back!"

The woman scurried back into the shop, a bit scared of Katara.

Katara turned back around, kneeling down in front of Toph's face. She lifted it gently, looking into blind eyes. She whispered tenderly,

"How you doing?"

"Oh…you know…I've been better."

Toph looked more pale than usual and she had large beads of icy sweat on her forehead. Katara wiped it away with a hand, noticing that despite the temperature of the sweat, Toph's skin felt warm.

_Damn it, this is all my fault!_

Katara collected the sweat on Toph's neck and forehead, forming it into a small ice ball the size of a marble and throwing it into a bush.

"Gross."

"Hey you've already thrown up on me, I think sweat is a step in the right direction."

The woman returned from the shop, carrying a small black bottle, which she immediately uncorked.

"Here, this will fix her up!"

Katara took the bottle, examining it, "Toph, this will help."

"Can't…lift…head.."

Katara bended the liquid from the bottle and led it to Toph's mouth. The young girl drank it with much less fervor than the first. There was a pause, all was still. First a few seconds, than several…

"Toph! Are you okay?"

Toph lifted her head, now face to face with Katara - her disposition a serious one.

"Hey, Katara…"

"Yes..Toph?"

"You…smell like barf."

She began to burst into laughter. Katara looked confused, then up to the shopkeeper for answers. The woman looked relieved, as if this was the correct reaction for Toph to be having.

"That mixture is very powerful, she'll be good as new in no time."

Katara still looked confused, needing more explanation.

"Err..it's fast acting properties come from cactus root."

Toph, suddenly on her feet, jumped forward to embrace Katara in a crushing hug – smashing their vomit-covered clothes together.

The elder woman looked at the two girls and breathed a sign of relief. Things could have gotten pretty bad for a second there…

"You girls should go get changed. There's a water pump back there you can use to clean up as well."

"Thank goodness because Katara smells _bbaaaaad_!" Toph made a fanning motion in front of her nose.

Katara smiled weakly, drunk Toph wasn't that different from sober Toph.

* * *

Katara was now in clean clothes and sitting in the soft grass outside the shed, waiting for Toph, (who she could hear giggling incessantly inside) hopefully changing as well.

She wondered what their next step should be. After the barfing and bad medicine incident, they should probably just leave. Getting Sokka out of Toph's mind would have to wait for another time…

"Katara! Help!"

The water bender sprang into action, throwing open the door of the shed,

"What is it Toph!"

"Help I'm stuck! Save me!"

Toph was half way inside of a long sweater, the loose turtleneck flipped up and engulfing her entire head.

Katara couldn't help but laugh at the sight, "Alright, hang on, I'll fix it.."

She pulled down the sweater's neck, adjusting it into its proper place. The sweater was the smallest the shop had, but still fit loosely on the tiny girl. The neck drooped and the sleeves engulfed her hands.

"It's too big!" Toph announced, stating the obvious.

"Hang on"

Katara rolled up the sleeves, freeing Toph's hands by creating large cuffs. The grey shorts she wore only peeked out about two inches from the bottom of the sweater. She looked almost the opposite of Katara's skinny black pants and plain white shirt. The selection at the shop hadn't been great…

"Toph, I think we should catch up to the boys now. This town doesn't need our help."

Toph's giddy happiness immediately dropped, "But we just got here!"

"I know but we have a responsibility to the…"  
"Katara! You were doing so good earlier, finally letting your hair down for once! Don't go back to mom mode already!"

So she _had_ noticed…

"I know, but.."

Toph let out a defeated sigh.

"Fine, I guess you're right. We _have_ been making a lot of stops lately…"

_A lot of stops lately?_

Sokka's words resonated through Toph's lips, and suddenly Katara was filled with a feeling she couldn't quite place.

Toph began walking towards the door.

"Wait! Alright, we should wait for your medicine to uh…_wear off_ anyway or we'll never catch up. We can stay…but just for a little while."

"Yes! You're the best!"

In one fell swoop Toph leaped towards Katara, grabbed her by the neck, and crushing their lips together. Katara's mind went blank.

She knew by the clean movement, that it was a kiss born of excitement and not lust.

_But_ when it lasted more than a few seconds, Katara began to question that. The water bender's eyes glazed over, her heart in her throat. The shorter girl still wasn't stopping. Toph felt the same way after all! It was a dream-come-true.

Katara closed her eyes as well, ready to kiss back after the initial shock. But…

"Alright! Lets go get something to eat, I'm starving!"

Toph turned on her heel and marched in a not so straight line out the door.

Katara looked on in bewilderment, her lips still slightly parted. _What just happened? Where's my kiss?_

She slapped a palm to her face. _Ohh Spiritsssss! It was only a drunken, meaningless, friend kiss! Whyyyy! That's it, I give up…_

Katara looked up, ready to follow her friend, _just_ friend, on a quest for food.

Toph turned back around, and realized Katara wasn't behind her,

"Ya coming, baby cakes?"

Toph extended a hand back towards her Katara, a clear invitation.

…_what?_

"What did you call me?"

"Baby. Cakes. That okay?" Toph smiled, her arm still outreached.

"Um yeah, it's okay."

Katara walked forward and took Toph's hand, lightly. Toph gave it a squeeze, but did _not_ look up at her face.

"Happy Three Nations Day, Katara. I know this is dumb, but…I'm kinda' glad you pitched a fit so we could be here."

The shorter girl looked away, hiding her face. Why, Katara didn't know. But who cares, she'd take it! It was a good sign…a _very_ good sign.

* * *

**A/N - Aww first kiss! Okay, next chapter something pretty intense is gonna happen, which will kind of set the pace for the rest of the story. So make sure you review so I have the strength to keep writing!**


	5. The Big Bang

**A/N - Well here's chapter 5 just in time for New Years! Well, for me at least. Sorry if you've already hit 2011 wherever you are! Ready? Okay!**

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* * *

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**Chapter 5: The Big Bang**

Toph staggered her way through the brightly lit streets. Granted, she wasn't the only one enjoying a good buzz right now, but she _was_ the smallest.

Festival patrons stared at her. Some in surprise, some (mostly young men) in admiration, and some (mostly elderly women) with shame.

Katara followed behind, shrugging her shoulders at people who looked at her for answers, pretending she had no idea how her friend got so drunk. There was no way she was going to explain it 100+ times to total strangers.

"La la la la..la LAAAA la la la!"

"Alright Toph, give me a break, you can't be so drunk you're actually singing 'la la la'"

Toph spun around to face Katara, "Wazzat?"

_Orrr maybe you can be that drunk…yipes_

A goofy grin was plastered on the young girl's face, "So have you seen anything that looks delicious yet?"

Katara smiled softly, "Toph I'm right here, you don't need to shout. And everything looks pretty good so, is there anything you've really missed since we started traveling?"

"Hmm…well there is one thi.."

Toph suddenly stopped.

"Toph? What is is?

Toph sniffed the air like a tiny human tracking hound.

"This way!"

Toph grabbed Katara's arm and began to run through the crowd.

_Where did she suddenly get all this coordination from?_

Voices and colors flew by as Katara was literally dragged through the streets. Toph was somehow laughing the whole way even though her victim was struggling to breathe.

Toph stopped for a moment to sniff the air, giving Katara a chance to catch her breath. She bent forward, placing her free hand on her knee. The water bender was far from being out of shape, but Toph seemed to possess some sort of energy reserve this evening.

"Okay…Toph…why are…we…runnING!"

Katara was quickly dragged off again. Down side streets where couples tried to find some privacy (immediately ruined by Toph's cat call), past kiosks where the sounds of sizzling foods whizzed by, past burly men setting up some sort of elaborate display, until finally they came to a screeching hault, literally kicking up a cloud of dust from the dirt ground.

Katara began to take deep breaths in a valiant attempt to regain oxygen. Toph knew they were at the right spot, she could smell it. She released her friend's arm, who began violently coughing as she inhaled a big breath of dust.

"This is the place, Katara!" Toph brought her hands up then lowered them, bringing the cloud of dust along with. She patted Katara's back sharply, helping clear her airway.

Katara let out a final cough, "..What place?"

"The place that's gonna' change your life!"

Toph pointed a finger towards a food booth. Its sign said "Sauny's Fried Sludge Cakes!"

Katara's stared at the sign in disbelief. There was really food like this?

"Sludge…cake?"

"Best stuff in all the nations! I guarantee you'll love em'!"

"Toph…how did you find this place?"

"I just followed my nose, duh!"

"…But we must have ran halfway across the town!"

Toph smirked, "I know, pretty impressive huh?"

Toph led the way towards the booth, Katara still in amazement. She had no choice but to believe the young girl, there was no way she could have known where the booth was otherwise. She rubbed the residual dirt out of her eye and followed. She'd have to question her companion's amazing nasal strength when she had sobered up a bit.

"Uhh..it's not _real_ sludge is it?"

"The realest!"

"Well…then. I think I'll pass this time, Toph."

"Oh no you won't!"

Toph ran behind Katara and pushed her forward to the front of the booth. Katara tried to whisper in protest so as not to offend the man but still avoid eating his disgusting treats. No dice.

"We'll take six please! And don't skimp on the sludge!"

"You got it, kid!"

The large man turned around to prepare Toph's enthusiastic order.

"…six?"

"Trust me Katara, once you try one you'll wish you had two more."

Katara tried to look around the man's hulking form to see what exactly went into these nasty things, but he blocked her from every angle. Katara knew some folks considered the typical cuisine of the water tribe unappetizing. _But if this is what the Earth Nation eats they should all just shut up!_

"Uhh to tell you the truth Toph, I'm not very hungry. You can have mine."

Toph crossed her arms, starting to get tired of all this protesting.

"Katara I know you're lying, your stomach's been churning since we got here, I can feel it!"

Katara sighed. It was true, she was hungry. But not enough to eat whatever miserable thing Toph had just purchased, let alone three of them.

"Order up!"

The young girl's face lit up as she left Katara and ran back to the booth. Toph dropped a couple coins on the counter and grabbed her plate.

"Enjoy!"

"Ohhh I plan to my good man!"

Toph made her way back to Katara, taking a deep breath of the smell that had led her there in the first place.

"Alright, try one!"

"No really, that's.."

"Just try one!"

"I'm just not in the mood for.."

"TRY ONE!"

"Toph please I don't.."

Katara was silenced by having a fried sludge cake shoved right in her mouth.

"…Well?"

Katara chewed her force fed treat tentatively. Then replied through a full mouth, "Toph…this is great!"

"I told you!"

"Well why didn't you _tell_ me the sludge was chocolate?"

"Because where's the fun in that?"

* * *

Katara and Toph strolled along the outskirts of town, right behind the shops so that on one side there were buildings and on the other was the forest. Katara had suggested they take a break from the bustle of the festival after running through it for 20 minutes. The fact that they were finally alone was just…a lucky happenstance.

The sun was being to drop, bathing the world in deep shadows and beautiful oranges. It was beautiful and Katara felt bad that Toph couldn't see it. _How strange, she's never seen it in her entire life…_

Both girls had made their way through the first sludge cake and were on the second. Toph had sobered significantly, although once in a while she'd let out a stream of giggles for no apparent reason.

"So Toph, super sense of smell? Why hadn't you told us before?"

"You never asked!"

_Oye…_

"My mother used to tell me a story about it actually…"

Katara stopped in her tracks, "Oh really?"

"You uh, wanna' hear it?"

_YES! In your face, Sokka!_

"Of course, it'll be nice to know a piece of your mysterious past."

"Well, alright then…I need a break from walking anyways."

Toph sat down on the ground and leaned against a tree, she patted the spot next to her for Katara to join. The water bender tried to contain her excitement as she did.

"Alright, so…this is how I remember her telling it to me…so it might not be as good as the original."

"I'm sure it'll be great." Katara smiled warmly, touched that Toph would share _any_ part of her past with her.

Toph took a deep breath, suddenly feeling a bit self conscious, "Okay well, when I was born I was very sick, and small…and frail. My parents paid for the best doctors around but all they could do was keep me alive, I wasn't getting any better."

Katara felt a tightness in her chest at the though of a sickly Toph.

"The doctors said that if I didn't start showing _some_ improvement soon, it was unlikely that I would make it. So my parents extended their search. They offered a reward to anyone in the Earth Kingdom who could heal their child."

Toph stopped talking.

"And?"

"The next part gets a bit…uh, gnarly."

"I don't care, tell me! I mean…if you're comfortable with it. I won't judge, Toph; you know that."

"Yeah okay…so anyways, a woman who had never really been accepted by the village she lived in came forward saying she had a solution. Of course, living in their rich bubble, my parents had no idea about her reputation as a whack job. She said that for their daughter to be cured, they'd need to find another baby in a similar situation."

"Another baby?"

"Yes. So now my parents were on a whole new search. But it didn't take long until they found a lesser off family with a child in a similar state. They told them of the old woman's advice to heal both their children at the same time. They said yes of course."

Toph paused again, this time Katara stayed silent. She continued,

"The old woman said that both children needed to be buried in the dirt. And that the spirit of the Earth would rebirth them healthy and new."

Katara's eyes widened, this story had suddenly taken a turn from kind of weird to totally bizarre.

"She said they would only have to stay buried for an hour, the hour that the full moon was directly overhead, and the Earth had its most powerful healing skills. Err uh, what did she call it, _rejuvenating properties_."

"But wasn't that…risky? Leaving you in the dirt I mean."

"You'd think so. But my mom says they were completely out of options and the old woman promised them it was perfectly safe…my parents are a bit out of touch with reality."

"But obviously you survived, so I guess they were right!"

"Well, that's technically correct…"

Toph stopped, unsure if she should proceed.

"Toph, is everything alright?"

"Yeah. Katara, if I tell you the next part, will you promise not to think any less of me?"

_Woah…_

"..Of course I won't Toph. Whatever it is I'm sure its not as bad as.."

"It's pretty bad."

Katara waited patiently. Toph took a deep breath,

"So…my parents, and this other baby's parents, took us to the middle of a field to do the job. They made the holes as shallow and the old woman would permit, and left spaces for our mouths so we cold breathe. Luckily we were so weak we didn't move around much and fill the gaps up with dirt. The moon was high in the sky, it was the moment of truth. Either we would be healed, or it was all over, for the both of us."

Katara was sitting on the edge of her proverbial seat. She shoved the third sludge cake into her mouth and stared intently at Toph, hanging on every word.

"But then the old woman struck her staff against the ground and began chanting – she put a curse on both of the children."

"Wait, when did she get a staff?"

"She always had a staff."

"Oh, sorry, you hadn't mentioned it yet."

"Just listen! She cursed us both and held us for ransom! She said the family who could pay her the most would have their child spared!"

Katara gasped, "So…you're parents obviously paid more right? Because you were the wealthier family and you're obviously still here."

"Well…yes and no. My parents can be selfish sometimes but they aren't evil. The other family had hardly any money. Although they were willing to give all they had, it was no match for what my parents could offer. So the old woman struck a deal."

Katara subconsciously scooted closer to Toph, enthralled with her tale. For once she had no ulterior motives to be next to the young girl. She whispered, "What kind of deal?"

"A terrible one. My parents would pay on behalf of the poorer family as well, so that both the children could be spared. But what the woman didn't mention was, the dark magic of the curse could not be completely lifted off both of us. And…the family who paid more, would get the better half of the outcome…"

Toph was beginning to tear up, but Katara did not notice.

"And then?"

"The other baby got my vision…but in exchange…I took his sense of smell, his voice, his hearing…and, his bending."

Katara was speechless a moment, "Toph..."

"I got everything but the eyes."

Toph began to lightly cry, for the poor child who would never speak, or hear, or smell. Not being able to bend was nothing compared to that. She would have cried harder but she had already shed so many tears for him in the past.

Katara draped an arm around Toph, pulling her close into a hug, "I'm so sorry Toph, I had no idea! But you can't blame yourself, there was literally nothing you could have done!"

"I know, Katara. But I can't help feeling some guilt. Why him and not me? Because I'm rich? That's terrible!"

Katara tightened the hug as Toph continued to cry. She spoke softly, "Toph…why did your mom tell you this story so often?"

Toph wiped her tears away.

"She said it was to remind me never to feel like I had been cheated by life because of my blindness, because I'm actually very lucky."

"You're mother is very wise, Toph."

"Yeah, she's pretty alright I guess."

Toph smiled at hearing her mother praised. She leaned into Katara, letting out a sigh.

"You don't know how good it feels to finally tell someone that…"

Katara stiffened, feeling Toph's face pressed into her chest, "You've never told anyone before."

"Nope, it was a secret between me and my parents. And now you…"

Katara stared into Toph's blind eyes, her heart jumped, "I'm honored Toph, but why me?"

Toph looked a bit uncomfortable. _Is she blushing?_

"I don't know, Katara. I guess lately I've just been feeling like you're the only I can.."

Katara could take it no longer, she felt like her heart was about to burst,

"Toph! I like you! Like _really_ like you, like…more than a friend like you…"

Toph looked startled, but did not pull away, "What?"

"Toph, I don't know why but, something clicked in me when you saved me the other…"

"No wait Katara, shh…do you hear that?"

Katara stopped talking, somewhat frustrated that her confession was stopped. She listened too, and started to make out a sound. It sounded like a low hiss.

"Oh no."

Katara looked at Toph, who had apparently identified the sound. Then she looked up and saw it with her own working eyes.

Three large, active fireworks had rolled into the girls' midst off their display. Then suddenly everything seemed to happen in a blur.

* * *

Katara saw the men run up, chasing the fireworks, but remaining at a safe distance. They yelled something, probably to get down or run. Toph started to raise a wall of earth but could only build it about half way up in time. Then Katara tried to push her out of the way.

That was all she could remember, then she was being carried away on a wooden stretcher, people in her face asking her name, if she was okay, could she speak? She looked to the left and saw Toph, on a separate stretcher.

Katara held her breath _Oh no…Toph, you have to be okay._

Toph blinked at Katara. She was alive at least. But she seemed…off.

Katara managed to smile at Toph, who seemed just as worried about her; she weakly smiled back. Katara gave a weak 'thumbs up' and fell back on her stretcher. She couldn't feel her body, or her brain, or anything really. But if Toph was alive that was enough permission for her to pass out for a while.

The people carrying the stretching remained frantic.

"Shit, this one's out again! Is she okay?"

"Yeah she'll be okay, but make sure you get the other one to healer Ichika immediately once we arrive!"

* * *

**A/N - Aww poor Toph, why does she get tortured so? It's okay, she's tough. However...she may have trouble dealing with the aftermath of the explosion...Oh the suspense! Please review ya'll, it's so great to hear your thoughts!**


	6. Try to Fix You

**A/N - Well here is the next installment. What has become of our girls! Well, time to find out! Please keep the reviews coming, I love them all!**

**Chapter 6: Try to Fix You**

Katara drifted in and out of consciousness for about an hour. Her dreams were vivid but contained no images. It was all sound and emotions. Suddenly a bright light broke though the darkness and she woke up and this time, stayed up.

Her glassy blue eyes slowly took in their surroundings – a medical tent. The beautiful light of the sky outside was gone and had been replaced by the blackness of night. Katara remembered what had happened. _Toph!_

Swinging her legs off the bed, the young girl began to make a valiant struggle to her companion's side. A nurse walked past the open door of Katara's room, stopped, realized the patient was awake and escaping, and ran into the room.

"Young lady please, you need to stay down, you've been in an accident!"

"I know what happened. I need to find Toph!"

"…Excuse me?"

"My friend, the one who was brought in with me."

"…"

Katara started to become panicked at the nurse's lack of knowledge about Toph's wareabouts.

"Toph! She's a little girl, little as in short, shorter than me. With black hair and pale green eyes. She's blind and short!"

The nurse stared at Katara with pity.

"Sweetie, I think you need to just sit down, take a drink of water and.."

Katara dodged the nurse's comforting shoulder pat and ran out the door, ignoring the yells of protest. Her body felt sore and achy but no sharp pains that would signal fractured or broken bones. As she ran she noticed some bandaging on her arms and leg. Scratches, but nothing too serious it seemed…

Katara saw the exit and ran towards it, almost free to run the streets in a maniacal search for Toph. But before she could, someone stepped in her way.

"Well you seem to have made it through with flying colors!"

Katara stopped in her tracks.

"Who are you? Where's Toph!"

"If 'Toph' is the girl you were in the explosion with, she's in the neighboring tent down the road. She went straight there after the accident, whereas you were brought here."

The nurse who had given chase to Katara finally caught up, panting.

"Young…lady…you….shouldn't..be running around in your condition!

Katara turned around to face her chaser. _Condition?_

The man who had stopped her spoke to the nurse.

"She's alright Nurse Humi, we're clearly standing in the presence of an up and coming healer."

The nurse stared in awe, "Oh goodness, well that explains the running. We've haven't had any new water tribesmen up this way in quite some time."

Katara grew tired of the conversation, "Take me to Toph! Is she okay? Why did we go to separate places?"

The man remained calm and cheerful, which did absolutely nothing to quench Katara's panic.

"Well you clearly are well enough to make the walk, I'll take you there." He turned to Nurse Humi and gave a tiny bow, "Good evening, Miss Humi."

Humi smiled as a tiny blush graced her cheeks, "Good evening, Nurse Fin."

"Nurse?" Katara thought out loud.

"Well I certainly can't be a healer myself, now can I?" Fin flashed Katara a warm and handsome smile, which a few weeks ago would have made her heart jump.

* * *

Fin led Katara down the dirt road. It turned out he worked at the neighboring medical tent where Toph was being held.

Katara's panic had turned into a feeling of suppressed fear and anxiety. She learned that Toph was indeed still alive. And that was enough to take the edge off, at least for the moment.

"So why exactly were Toph and I separated?"

Fin's smile that had been plastered on his face finally dropped, "Your friend seems to have gotten the worst of the explosion. The medical facility you were taken to was for smaller injuries. Well…maybe not smaller, but more typical ones. Cuts, broken legs, fevers, you get the idea."

"And…the other one?"

Fin paused.

"Well…lets just say you'd rather be at the one you were taken to."

Katara stopped in her tracks. This was all too much. Toph had something _worse_ than a cut, a broken leg, and a fever. She began to shiver.

"Katara, are you okay?"

"Lets run."

"What?"

"Run! We need to run there, this is taking too long!"

Fin looked at a loss for words, "Katara, you're doing much better, but I don't think we should be running around in the cold."

Katara took off in a full sprint, all Fin could do was stare after.

* * *

Katara burst though the entrance to the medical tent, "Toph! Are you here?"

An elderly woman shushed the intruder. Katara ran up to her, keeping her demands for information somewhat quieter this time,

"Can you tell me where my friend is, please? She was in an explosion and brought here on a stretcher!"

"Oh the little earth bender…yes, she's resting now…._you_ couldn't be the other girl in the accident though…"

"Yes, that's me."

"Goodness, how interesting. Which Water Tribe are you from?"

"Uh, Southern. How did you know?"

"My name is Ichika, I'm the head healer of this town. Though I'm originally from your sister tribe."

Although this would normally be exciting news to Katara, inciting a series of grilling questions about healing and the Northern Water Tribe, her mind only had one thing on it and nobody seemed to be offering any relief. Why couldn't they get it through their thick skulls that she needed to immediately see Toph?

"Toph…please…"

"…Alright, she's probably still sleeping, but you can see her."

Katara's healt lept. Finally, thank the spirits.

* * *

Ichika led Katara into a small room of the tent. It was dimly lit but Katara could still make out Toph's tiny body resting in her cot. Her hair was flowing loose around her neck, something the water bender had never seen before, outside of its 'first thing in the morning' chaotic state.

For somebody resting, Toph sure had a tight grip on the blanket. Her hands were grabbing at the fabric to the point her knuckles were white.

Ichika spoke softly, "I think she's still sleeping."

Suddenly Toph's eyes shot open, "Hello, is somebody there? Katara is that you!"

"Toph it's okay, I'm here!"

Katara began to run towards her friend but Ichika grabbed her arm, "Wait…"

Toph continued, "Katara! Are you there?"

Katara stopped, confused, "Toph…I'm right here."

"Who's there! Answer me!"

Realization hit Katara, and tears welled up in here eyes,

"Oh spirits, no…she's deaf."

Katara began to cry openly. Toph was now blind and deaf, this just wan't fair.

Ichika lightly pet Katara's back, "No no dear, don't cry. She's not completely deaf."

Katara stopped crying for a moment, "She…she's not."

Ichika sighed, "Well, I won't sugar coat it for you, she's lost a substantial amount of hearing. But if you talk at a normal volume directly in her ear, she'll be able to hear you."

Toph was now confused, she though she had felt a gust of wind enter the room, signaling someone's entrance, but she could hear nothing.

Ichika continued, seeing that Katara looked confused as well, "Everything and everyone is going to sound monotone to her, she won't be able to identify people by their voice for a while. But for instance, if somebody has a tendency to talk very fast all the time, or has a lot of pauses in their speech, she'll know who it is.

_For a while…_

"Wait, does that mean she's going to regain her hearing?"

Toph was now sticking a finger in her ear, trying to dislodge a blockage that wasn't there.

"Somewhat…with time. Who knows, she may make a full recovery. But try not to get your hopes up to much, dear."

Katara stared at Toph, who obviously had no idea her hearing was almost gone.

"She doesn't know, does she…"

"I thought she was asleep up until now…I guess it's time to break the news to her."

"No. Let me do it."

Katara walked over to Toph and knelt down by her cot. She leaned into her ear,

"Toph, it's me…Katara."

Toph threw her hands around Katara's neck, panicked.

"Katara what's going on, why do you sound so weird?"

Katara spoke into her ear, answering the difficult question. Toph stopped for a second.

Katara held her breath and waited patiently for the information to sink in.

"Well…then…how do I know it's really you?" Toph quickly removed her hands from the water bender's neck and began to take on a defensive stance as best she could from her sitting position.

After a moment's thought, Katara took Toph's tiny fisted hand, gently opened her fingers, and brought them to her face – letting her feel the features she had memorized days ago.

Toph slid a hand down the side of Katara's face, then across the center, "It is you…you're telling the truth."

Katara prepared herself for the tears but surprisingly, they never came. Toph became silent, an unreadable expression on her face. It was worse than tears. Katara turned to Ichika,

"Please, there _has_ to be something I can do. I'm a healer too, I can help!"

"Well perhaps, but you are very young…"

"But I have this!"

Katara quickly rose up and removed the leather pouch from her side.

"Wha…what is that?"

"It's water from the Spirit Oasis of the Northern Water Tribe."

"I can feel its healing properties from here, I remember it from my home. Although even I have only beheld it once before..."

"So it can help!"

"Well, it is possible. But do you have the experience to wield it?"

"Yes! I'll do whatever it takes, I've done healing before."

"Then show me, place the water in her ears and let it set, but do _not _let it go too far back in her ear canal or you'll do more harm than good."

Katara let out a sign of relief, "Thank you, I'll do it as soon as she calms down."

Ichika suddenly became stern, "No, do it now. Show me you _can_."

Katara looked confused but did as she was told. She walked back over to Toph, who had not moved, but looked more pale than usual. She whispered in her ear,

"Toph, I'm going to try to heal your ears now. Just, try to relax…"

Katara removed the stream of water from her pouch and raised it to Toph's ears. Suddenly she felt very nervous. There was a very small amount of space the water needed to sit in. It required great precision.

"Um okay, lets see here…"

"Concentrate Katara, feel where the deficiency is, and fix it."

Katara took a deep breath and closed her eyes, concentrating on Toph. She felt the energy flowing through both of their bodies, swirling in pools. Then, she found the injuries. The water in her hands glowed as she guided it directly to the ear canals, and kept it there.

Fin entered the room quietly as possible, seeing as the young healer was concentrating. He whispered to Ichika, "Can she actually do it?"

"She's quite talented. Better than I was at her age. Plus she has the rarest of water in all the nations. I don't think there's anyone better suited than her, including myself.

Fin looked surprised, "Really, even you?"

"There's something a healer needs that you can't learn with practice. And that's an emotional connection with the person they wish to save. This young woman clearly cares for her patient, you can tell by the glow of the water."

* * *

Two pairs of feet landed on the dirt road outside of the town.

"Sokka are you sure you wanna' do this? It hasn't really been a day yet, won't Katara be mad?"

"Just look around Aang! There's no trouble here..MEANING, they're just messing around, having fun, while WE take care of the grunt work!"

"I'm not sure they they're trying to do that to us. I'm sure they just got caught up in something..."

Sokka ignored the gentle young man's words of rationale.

"Let's go Aang!"

The two began to walk towards the festival, Sokka's feet clomping against the ground, clashing the with the air benders light steps.

"Sokka, are those really necessary?"

Sokka looked down at this metal-soled shoes.

"These? Are you kidding me! The guy said they were the latest in fighting against the fire nation, plus..they help me gain leg strength with every step!"

"I'm not sure some guy selling junk outside the wall really knows what he's talking about."

"Look Aang you worry about your shoes and I'll worry about mine.

* * *

A couple of festival patrons walked by the peculiar boys arguing about footwear and talked under their breath.

"Did you hear that two girls got caught up in the fire works accident?"

"Really! I must have been watching the acrobats, what happened?"

"I'm not sure but I think they were taken to Ichi…"

Their voices trailed off as they passed. Aang and Sokka looked at each other seriously, then ran off towards the town.

**A/N - Can Katara do it? Find out in the next chapter (which comes out faster with more reviews!)**


	7. Dangerous Wagers

**A/N - Hello All! I'm back with the next chapter. I hope you have all been enjoying the story so far. I really appreciate the comments I've been getting, and I'd love to hear from you that haven't spoken up yet! I'm getting a lot of hits and such so I know you're out there! Alright, time for lucky #7...**

**Chapter 7: Dangerous Wagers**

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* * *

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"Alright Katara, that should be enough for now"

At Ichika's words Katara let the water of the Spirit Oasis drain from Toph's injured ears.

The injured girl looked shocked, then opened her jaw in an attempt to pop her ears.

"Toph…how do you feel?"

Toph looked at Katara, "You're going to heal me, aren't you Katara?"

Katara was taken aback, "Well, I'm certainly going to do my best, but.."

"No. I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. It isn't much but you helped. I know you're going to fix me…I just know it."

Toph wrapped her arms around Katara. With her impaired hearing it was comforting to feel Katara pressed against her. The young girl placed an ear just below her collar bone and heard the thumping beneath. It was definitely Katara, she could feel what her ears could not.

Katara looked at Ichika for assistance, wanting her to tell Toph that perhaps she wasn't the miracle cure she claimed her to be. The last thing she wanted was to dash the young girl's hopes, but better now than in a few months or years.

But Ichika just smiled sympathetically and shrugged her shoulders. If Toph was comforted in thinking Katara would fix everything it was better than being in despair, for now anyway.

* * *

Two young men burst into a medical tent, flushed and sweating – more from fear than exhaustion.

"Excuse me maam, have you seen two girls come through here tonight? One looks just like me and the other is really short and likes to hit things!"

Nurse Humi looked at the young Water Tribe warrior with surprise, "More of you are here? Goodness me…well you just missed the taller girl. She went to Healer Ichika's facility looking for her friend. It's about a quarter mile north of.."

Sokka and Aang burst out of the tent, heading due north.

* * *

Toph had fallen back asleep in Katara's arms, still recovering from her injuries and being emotionally exhausted from discovering her altered hearing had knocked her out.

Healer Ichika moved quietly about the tent with Fin by her side as assistance, mixing and grinding healing herbs together that might aid Toph in her journey to recovery.

Katara gently stroked Toph's loose black hair, tucking it behind her ear and out of her face. It was an honor to have the Greatest Earth Bender Alive have such faith in her healing abilities. She only prayed her patient wouldn't be let down in the end.

Suddenly a commotion was heard in the other room.

"Katara! Toph!"

"Sokka?"

Katara begin to react by standing before realizing that Toph had decided to become glued to her, "Can you please let him in?"

Fin went to retrieve the boys from the entry of the medical tent, looking confused, "Are you Southern Tribers on some sort of pilgrimage to your sister tribe?"

"No you see, we're traveling with.."

Before Katara could finish, the boys became impatient and a gust of wind filled the room as they made their presence known. Fin's eyes became wide,

"The Avatar!"

Lady Ichika nearly dropped the mixture she was concocting, "By the Spirits, it is!"

Fin and his master both bowed deeply in Aang's presence.

Before Aang could speak he saw the answer to his question, "Katara! Toph!"

Katara put a finger to her lips signaling her "saviors" to keep their voices down but it was too late. Toph lifted her head and yawned.

Her make shift pillow smiled as the young girl rubbed the sleep out of a blind eye, "Toph, guess who's here."

Knowing she probably wouldn't be able to recognize their voices, Toph placed her bare feet upon the smooth floor of the medical tent. She immediately was met with response,

"Twinkle Toes! And…a big blob?"

Sokka looked offended, "Excuse me! I have been training very hard lately and these shoes are only gonna' increase my strength! Meat isn't fattening, Toph!"

Toph looked puzzled, "Well all I hear is 'wha wa wha whah' so I'm guessing that's Sokka. But why can't I get a read on him?"

Katara was also confused, she looked at lady Ichika, who looked just as perplexed. She sized her brother up and down, then noticed his new footwear.

"Sokka, what in the world are _those_?"

"Those are his new Fire Bender beating shoes", Aang quickly responded with a grin.

"Hey everybody cool it, okay! This is serious! Tell me what's going on, are you two okay?"

Katara snapped back, "This _is_ serious, Sokka!" Toph has lost part of hear hearing, but why can't she see you with her feet?"

Sokka let the information of Toph's injury sink in, then realizing the question, looked down at his feet,

"Uhh..OH!"

He tapped the toe of his shoe against the ground, making a metallic clinking sound.

"Sokka! Take those ridiculous things off so Toph can see you!"

"No way! These babies are gonna' give me the advantage in a fight against a Fire Bender! I can't just take them off because there isn't one around this exact second!"

Being close together, Toph was able to hear Katara say that the blob was Sokka in the Fire Nation armor flavor of the week, "It's okay, I don't mind go without seeing Snoozles for a bit anyway."

Katara couldn't help feel a bit of joy leap into her chest at this answer. _Shame on you, Katara! This is no time to be competing over Toph!_

Suddenly realization struck her, "HEY! Wait a second, what exactly are you doing here, Sokka?"

Aang knew the fighting was about to flare up and decided to quickly step in. Besides, some things were more important than sibling squabbles.

"Katara are you okay? We heard you were in an explosion tonight and now Toph can't hear? What exactly happened!"

Katara mentally sighed, the events of the evening suddenly catching up with her. It was going to be a long night of explaining and planning and possibly arguing with Sokka. But at least Toph was alive and for the most part, well. And that would be enough to pull her through the night.

* * *

Toph sat atop Appa's saddle, her arms crossed in a pout and a blanket tucked around the rest of her.

"This is stupid!", she yelled at no one in particular, knowing full well that even if they answered, she wouldn't be able to hear it unless they crawled up right next to her ear. But she just wanted them to know.

"Is she gonna' be like this the whole way?"

"Leave her alone, Sokka! She has a right to be angry today."

The gang (minus a sleeping Toph) had decided that walking was still the best option for getting to Ba Sing Se (despite a number of quips about how Sokka's Fire Nation defending shoes should make it safe to fly).

However, Toph needed her rest. So with a sack full of painkillers, ointments and tonics, she was wrapped up in a blanket and placed on Appa's back. A couple days ago the earth bender had been complaining that they _should_ all ride on the flying bison's back rather than walk themselves. But now that she _had_ to, it was a different story.

* * *

Hours passed and Toph continued making highly audible groaning and sighing sounds, while occasionally reminding them how inconceivable it was that she wasn't being allowed to walk to Ba Sing Se.

Everyone was beginning to become a little thin on nerves. Even Aang, who had floated onto Appa's back to have a calming conversation with his Sifu about how this was the best option and how they were all just concerned for her well being, returned to the Water Tribe siblings with an angry scowl on his face and quickly began taking deep cleansing breaths before he did something un-monklike.

Toph let out a groan and flipped over onto her stomach for the 25th time, (Sokka had been counting), "Gahhhhahhhhhhh!"

"Katara! I don't care if she's had a rough night, that girl is working my last nerve!"

"Alright alright, Sokka I get it. I'll try to calm her down…"

Katara fell back and walked alongside Aapa, before grabbing the side of the saddle and pulling herself up and onto the seat.

"Well you don't feel like a fairy or a shapeless blob so you must be Katara."

Katara smiled and scooted closer to her ear, "Correct."

"If you're here to tell me that this is for my own good, sorry, but not interested."

"Oh I think you know by now that it's for your own good, so that's not why I'm here."

Toph looked a bit more interested, "Then why are you here?"

"I thought you might want to play a game."

Toph looked suspicious, this had better not be some sort of trick to get her to stop complaining.

"What kind of game?"

"The kind of game with…a wager."

Katara had definitely caught Toph's attention.

"Now you're talking sister! What did you have in mind?"

Katara opened her mouth to speak but was cut off.

"And don't say the travel majhong set with those raised tiles so I can read them or whatever, because I threw that overboard hours ago.

Katara closed her mouth, now what? Time to adlib.

"Well…the best kind of game there is!"

"Yeah?"

"And uh, the most dangerous kind."

"Yeah!"

"..The game is…"

"Yeah? Yeah!"

"The game of…love?"

Toph looked unamuzed, "Oh you just came up here to get cute with me, Sugars? Well just for that I'm gonna whine even more!"

"No don't do that! I'm being serious, it's a real game, with rules and a winner and everything!"

Toph looked thoughtful, "Alright then…how do you play?"

"How do you play! Well I'll tell you how you play…" _Oh Spirits, how do you play?_

Toph stared daggers at Katara, still not convinced this wasn't a trick to keep her quiet.

"Well uh, what you do first is, you um…" _Say something Katara, anything!_

"You pick a boy!"

"…a boy?"

"Yes a boy. And then you um, try to get them to, uh..kiss you."

A blush crossed Toph's surprised face, "Really?"

_Oh no Katara what did you just do! Wrong direction to go, abort abort!_

"Did I say kiss? I meant kick!"

"You get them to kick you!"

"NO! _You_ kick them!"

Toph paused, thoughtful.

"Katara, you know in a game of who can kick a boy first I'm gonna' win. Now tell me how you really play, I promise I can handle it!"

_Damn it…_

"Alright you got me, so…you try to get a boy to kiss you. BUT there are rules!" _Yes! Good thinking Katara, stop her with the rules!_

"Such as?"

"Well…rule number 1, no straight out asking for a kiss."

"Makes sense."

"Rule number 2, no touching the boy."

"Alright."

"And rule number 3…uh.." _Come on Katara, make up something that will keep her away from Sokka's lips!_

"Rule 3?"

"It's uh, that…you can't kiss back if they kiss you! It has to be all on their end or it doesn't count."

Toph didn't seem to understand this rule, "Buy why?"

_uhhh_…

"It's just the rules of the game okay! I didn't make up the rules, it's just the way they are!"

"Okay okay, sorry! Well I guess since one of the options for who to kiss is related to you, that means you get Aang…and I get…"

Katara cringed, and mentally screamed at herself for having set things up so perfectly for the couple she prayed would never be.

"Sokka."

Katara stared at Toph, prepared for the worst reaction – blushing, smiling, giggling, anything! But instead, there was nothing. Wasn't this the girl who had a crush on Sokka? Katara thought back to the shed of the village, how Toph had taken her hand. The way she squeezed it and turned her head away to hide something.

Could she actually feel the same? Was it possible? She had never responded one way or another to Katara admitting her feelings by the tree, but she figured it was because of the impending danger.

Katara couldn't tell, but for the moment at least, Toph didn't seem to feel the same way towards Sokka as she had when they had first been walking to Ba Sing Se after the battle.

But unfortunately, Toph never turned down from a challenge…

"Alright, I'm in."

_Double Damn it…_

"But what will we wager?"

"Well I guess I hadn't thought about it. What do you suggest?"

Toph looked thoughtful.

"I think that whoever wins should get a favor from the other person."

"A favor?"

"Yes, one absolutely, positively unbreakable favor. No matter how big it is, they have to do it without question."

Katara paused. A favor for Toph could end up being pretty scary. But still, she didn't have much else to gamble with.

"Alright, deal."

"Shake on it"

The two grasped hands firmly in agreement of the terms and conditions, Katara already racking her brain for ways to sabotage Toph.

"Thank you, Katara."

"For what?"

"For making this recovery process a lot more interesting. But don't think that means I'll go easy on ya!"

Katara stared back at Toph. An idea had suddenly popped into her head. It wasn't a nice one, but it may be the only way to stop Toph without hurting Aang and her brother in the process.

"Believe me Toph, neither will I…"

* * *

**A/N - Oh snap, Katara's pulling out the big guns now! Things are gonna get cra-zay, trust! Read and review please!**


	8. Fighting Words

**A/N - I'm baaaack! Hey guys, hope you've been well! Sorry about the delay, I'll say it once and I'll say it again: boo responsibilities! But alas, they must be done. Anyway, enough with the formalities, on with the show!**

**Chapter 8: Fighting Words**

Katara sat across from Toph on the saddle, facing her patient as she held the healing waters of the Spirit Oasis in her ears for another session. It took every ounce of focus she had to concentrate on the injuries and repairing them, rather than the stupid stupid mistake of a throw down she had proposed to Toph mere moments ago.

When she felt that it had been long enough, Katara removed the fluid from Toph's ears and fed it back into its vile. Toph opened her mouth to pop her ears, which she now did whenever the water was drained.

"Well?"

Toph looked thoughtful, then clapped her hands. Once, then twice.

"Hmm…say something for me?"

"Umm hey, Toph. This is a test. Do you notice any comparable difference from the way it was before versus your current hearing?"

"Sheesh Katara, be a little more formal about it…but I do think it's getting better. I can hear a bit more background noises and stuff. Thanks!"

Katara smiled, at least they were getting somewhere, slowly but surely.

"Well, I guess I'd better be getting back down there."

Toph placed a hand on Katara's arm, stopping her.

"Why? They don't need a third person to walk with.

* * *

Apparently Toph had been correct, as Aang and Sokka seemed to be deeply engaged in a debate about some boy topic. Dirt or snakes or fighting, Katara couldn't quite make it out. No huge loss…

She knew there was no way she could go on like this. There were two things in this world she believed in more than anything: Hope and Truth. Corny as they were, they always managed to lead her down the right path. And the latter of these beliefs was positively itching to be set free.

Katara _had_ technically confessed her feeling, but whether or not Toph had heard was another matter.

As the water bender stared up through the canopy of trees she knew that it had to be done, and soon. Any other time this peaceful scene of dabbled sunlight would have plastered a blissful grin on her face and eventually lull her to sleep. But all she felt now was a knot in her stomach and a lump in her throat.

She rolled onto her side and looked at the young lady who was causing her all this stress. Toph was picking at her toes. Once for cleaning and twice for the sweet, sweet picking sensation. Katara wasn't keeping count, but she had to be on pick session number 8 or 9 by now.

Katara smiled at the revolting and yet strangely endearing image.

_Only you, Toph. Eww..did she just find something in there?_

Without warning, Aang burst into the air with his glider, rising towards the canopy Katara had just been staring into. Before she could ask why, Sokka spoke,

"Snack time!"

"…huh?"

Looking back up towards the Avatar, she saw a deluge of brown dots rapidly making their way to earth. Luckily, realization struck before they did,

"Nuts!"

Katara quickly rolled across the seat of the saddle and jumped to her knees, shielding Toph's head under her arms before she could be pelted from above. Aang landed next to Sokka as the "snacks" finally hit the ground, immediately laughing and exchanging high fives over the success of their plan.

Katara unclenched her eyes, and found herself mere inches away from Toph's

_Oh Spirits, here we go…_

"Toph…we need to talk"

"Can it wait? I wanted to take a nap after all the walking I've been doing today. What are these, nuts? About time, I'm starving!"

"This is serious!"

Toph dropped her sarcastic grin, "Ah..alright Katara, sorry. What is it?"

"I told you something earlier…something important. You never responded."

Toph fidgeted where she sat, suddenly uncomfortable, "What did you say?"

Katara stared daggers at Toph. It was hard to tell when she was hiding something since she couldn't read the answer in her eyes, "You _really_ don't remember?"

"No! I mean, I don't think so. When did you say it? Can't you just tell me again?"

Katara was beginning to grow frustrated, it had taken so much to spill her guts and it seemed that Toph hadn't heard a single word.

"I'm talking about back at the village…when you told me your story? By the edge of the woods? Before the explosion!"

"Katara, I'm sorry! But if it was right before the fireworks went off my memory is blank. You can tell me again, if you want..."

Katara leaned even closer to Toph, not wanted her brother and Aang to have any say in this whatsoever. When their foreheads were nearly touching, Katara began. There would be no question this time, the earth bender would finally know the truth,

"Toph I don't know how long I've actually felt this way, but lately I've um..come to realize that…"

Toph was beginning to feel nervous, Katara was so close and so whipped up about something. She could feel her warm breath on her skin and it made her squirm.

"Realize that…?"

"That um…I really like you Toph. I mean_ really_ like you."

Toph was confused. Katara couldn't possibly mean what she thought.

"…Well I like you too, Katara! To be honest, I actually, sort of consider you my best friend…if that's okay..."

Katara blanched, she was touched and disappointed at the same time. It wouldn't do.

"That means a lot to me, Toph. But that's not what _I_ mean."

"Then what _do_ you mean?"

Katara looked down into the young girl's eyes, full of concern and anticipation. She wanted to dip her head and scoop her soft lips up in a kiss, but knew she needed to take it slow, lest she scare off the object of her affection.

"I mean that I like you in a romantic way, Toph. I know it may sound crazy…but it doesn't feel crazy."

Surprisingly, Toph did not react with shock or disgust, or even anger. Instead she cocked her head to the side and assumed a thoughtful stance. Her brow furrowed,

"Wait…is this some kind of joke? Because it's not very funny."

"…What! No it's not a joke! I'm putting my heart on the line here, Toph."

Toph removed herself from the close proximity she had moments ago found strangely exciting, "Katara, stop it."

"Stop what, Toph? I say that I've fallen for you and you think I'm joking around!"

"Katara! I don't appreciate this at all! I'm all for pranks but this is going to far…"

"Prank? Toph, WHAT are you talking about!"

Toph had managed to turn the tables, making the elder girl the target of anger and frustration instead of the other way around.

"Don't play dumb Katara, you're messing with me just to win this stupid game!"

"What! Toph...how could you even think?"

"And to think I trusted you so much that I told you…you know…and I never told ANYONE that!"

Katara took a deep breath and rubbed her temples, seeing that this was quickly snowballing downhill. She needed to relax before this got any more ugly.

"Okay…Toph? Just try to calm down for a second and hear me out."

Unfortunately for Katara, nobody tells Toph Be Fong to calm down…

"No Katara, you listen to me! I was lied to enough times back home to know when someone's just messing with me to get what they want! I though I'd gotten away from all that but I guess I was wrong!"

So much for staying calm.

"Toph, what the heck is wrong! Getting the best of you? You honestly think I'd tell you a bunch of crap just to win a stupid favor from you!"

By this point Sokka and Aang were turned around and staring at the girls, causing Appa to stop as well - neither one sure enough or brave enough to speak. Katara and Toph had their occasional squabbles, they were used to those – they were simply the result of two big personalities clashing. But they had never experienced anything like _this_. This argument was different. It was full of a deep bitterness and hurt.

Aang looked at Sokka pleadingly, hoping he would know what to say to stop this chaos. The elder boy could only stare back and slowly shake his head.

"Is it because I dropped nuts on them?"

"Then why aren't they yelling at you?"

Toph looked like she was on the brink of hot angry tears and Katara could not figure out for the life of her what she had said to warrant such a reaction. Sure her confession was shocking, but to make the earth bender think she was being blatantly lied to? Shocking indeed. And now that Toph had built up so much angry momentum it was only a matter of time until it manifest itself.

Katara argued with her right back, desperate to take the earth bender's issues with her home life and upbringing out of the equation. Clearly she had triggered something deeply seeded in the young lady that no amount of reasoning was going to change.

Finally Toph had reached her limit, and the anger began to peak, "Alright Katara, you wanna play dirty, lets play dirty!"

She turned around, knowing well enough even with her damaged hearing that the boys had to be starting by now.

"Sokka!"

Sokka gulped with fear, had he managed to cause this? "Y..yeah, Toph?"

"When we get to Ba Sing Se, would you like to go out with me?"

Silence.

Aang stared at his Sifu, mouth opened in utter shock. Katara clenched her jaw and stared intently at Toph, then shot her eyes to her brother. Aang did the same. The tangible silence grew painful as all awaited Sokka's answer to this staggering turn of events.

"I uh…I mean, um…sure? Yeah, sure..Toph. Why not?"

Toph let out her breath, taking great care to make sure nobody, particularly Katara, noticed she had been holding it.

"Good…good."

Toph turned back around with a smug look on her face and smirked in Katara's direction.

"If you wanna play rough, Katara then you'd better be prepared to get hurt."

She _was_ already extremely hurt of course, but at the moment that emotion was secondary to anger. If Toph was going to act in such a way then Katara was certainly going to have to raise the bar.

It was time to put all mothering and nurturing motives on the back burner. Katara's conscience had already been becoming more and more lax over the past couple days but now Toph had clearly thrown down the gauntlet.

The rage became white hot and Katara's mind screamed with nasty things to say back to that nauseatingly smug, terrible, beautiful face that she felt like crushing right about now – definitely something about "playing with the big kids", her being a spoiled rich brat, maybe even a blindness quip.

But she didn't

There was no need, for Katara had already formulated a plan in her head. She absolutely refused to hurt Aang in this process. She knew that the air bender had feelings for her, she wasn't stupid. He didn't need to be dragged into this. Sokka would be fine, he could handle a little dating angst.

Without a word, Katara slipped off the saddle and walked towards the front of the pack. Sokka and Aang watched her come expectantly, hoping she could shed some light on the subject. But she was in no mood.

"Not a word!"

She knew that what she had confessed to Toph was safe, for now. Both the water bender and earth bender could be terrifying when angry but the boys wouldn't _dare_ test Toph's temper. Especially not after what just happened.

Katara passed them and continued ahead about 20 yards before she settled into her pace.

_Well you little snot, I'm hope you're ready to play rough then…_

_

* * *

_

**A/N - Poor Katara, now she's the one being tortured...emotionally ::sniff sniff:: I really hope you guys are enjoying this story but regardless I'd love to hear what you have to say!**


	9. Guilt Be Gone

**A/N : Gah, longest delay ever! Sorry about that folks - thanks for your patience! And thank you for all the comment love! Please keep em coming, they make me quite happy! And of course, if you haven't something less than loving to say, that's cool too. Feel free to hit me with your best shot! **

**Chapter 9: Guilt Be Gone**

The remainder of the ride to Ba Sing Se was awkward to say the least. Occasionally Sokka and Aang would exchange nervous whispers, but would quickly stop out of fear of an angry young lady overhearing.

As the group came out of the forest and the entrance to the looming wall could finally be seen, Aang gave a sigh of relief – their tense walk was finally coming to a close. Feeling emboldened by the sight, he decided to ask Sokka one final question about his soon-to-be date, despite the very real possibility of a rock to the head.

"Soooo…you and Toph, huh?"

Although he was already whispering, Sokka clamped a panicked hand over the Avatar's mouth.

"Shhh! I already told you, I have no idea what made her ask all of a sudden!"

Aang pushed away Sokka's clammy hand, "Yeah I know, but how do _you_ feel about it?"

Sokka stopped and dropped his frantic hands at his side, he honestly hadn't even thought about it.

"I…" There was a long pause.

"…yeah?"

"I…have NO IDEA! I'd never considered it before! I have no frame of reference! GAHH! What the heck is going on!"

Sokka suddenly realized he was yelling, bordering screaming, and that the girls were staring straight at him. And neither looked particularly happy.

"Uhhh yeah, Aang! I'd never considered going vegetarian! Tell me more about it!"

Toph rolled her blind eyes and Katara shook her head in disgust of her brother's terrible attempt at lying. Luckily for Sokka, both girls had other things on their mind and turned away once more.

The Water Tribe Warrior took a deep breath to regain his composure. Being trapped between an angry water bender and an angry earth bender and not knowing what you had done wrong in the first place was not a good place to be.

* * *

Katara reached the head guard of the Ba Sing Se entrance first, as she had been walking in front since the blow up between Toph and herself.

"Ahh the Avatar and his traveling party have returned! I trust your trip was a safe one?"

"Well we're all here aren't we?"

The normally friendly Katara was in no mood to make chitchat with the guard. She immediately regretted walking out in front and wished she had fell behind instead. But the guard was not picking up on her "don't talk to me" vibe and continued...

"Is everything alright, young one? You seem troubled."

"Just tired I guess."

"I hope nothing happened on your journey to put you in such a state."

Katara thought about this. What _had_ happened on their journey?

"…Nothing happened on our journey. Nothing at all."

"Ahh well, sometimes that is for the best I suppose."

The oblivious guard patted Katara on the head and welcomed the others as they reached the entrance. After a brief series of formalities the wall was opened and the gang was allowed into the City.

* * *

As they walked through the streets towards their designated house, Katara could see the remains of Ba Sing Se's own Three Nation's Day celebration. As big a party as the town had thrown, Ba Sing Se had clearly done tenfold, at least. Buildings were draped with streamers to the point of not being able to find the entrance, the streets were layered with colored confetti and everybody seemed to move about with the dull ache following a night of partying. And Three Nation's Day was two nights ago…

Katara couldn't help wondering how different things would have been if she had just listened to her brother and come back here instead of going to that town. The four of them would have celebrated together, Toph wouldn't have gotten violently ill from poorly labeled motion sickness medication (which she wouldn't have even _needed_ had she not been spun around so much), the two of them wouldn't have gotten caught in a fireworks explosion…

Yep, this was definitely all her fault. All the guilt Katara had been pushing onto the back burner was starting to boil over and she felt that familiar burn at the corner of her eyes.

She needed to apologize. To everyone, but especially to Toph. Obviously the girl had issues.

Toph was _always_ yelling, so it's not like she did it out of some malicious intent…

And people always go on the defensive when they think they're being lied to, even if it is someone they had _claimed_ to be their best friend a mere two seconds before that…

After all, she probably hadn't _meant_ to blatantly throw Katara's valiant confessions of love back in her face so callously…

...

And just like that, Katara was mad again. But she knew she shouldn't be – at least the old Katara knew it was wrong to be so upset at Toph.

_No Katara, don't get upset again, you were right the first time. You made a bunch of mistakes and it's time to make amends for them…_

Katara braced herself, ready to begin the ceremonial beg for forgiveness from her friends.

But just like fate itself, Toph managed to again step in the way of Katara's best laid plans.

"I'm starving! So where do you wanna' go for our date tonight, Sokka? I was thinking something spicy myself, what about you?"

Katara's mind went blank, focusing only on Sokka's response.

"Um..spicy food is fine with me, Toph. Whatever you say."

Aang chuckled and elbowed Sokka in the ribs, "Maybe something vegetarian, huh Sokka?"

"Huh? Oh yeah…right. _Vegetarian_. That sounds…great. Thanks for reminding me, _Aang_"

Katara closed her eyes and began to silently count to ten before her anger got the best of her apology, for good.

_1..2..3..4..5.._

"Hey, Sugar Queen!"

_5…6…7…8_

"Hello...Hey Sugars, I know you can hear me!"

_8…8….8….8….._

"Katara!"

"WHAT?"

Katara jolted around to face her aggressor. Toph sat atop Appa's head with that same cocky grin on her face.

"Sheesh, no need to yell! I was just hoping you could help me out later?"

"…Help _you_?"

"Sure, is that gonna' be a problem? Are you busy later?"

Katara thought very carefully before she chose her next words. Toph was definitely up to something, but what?

"Aren't _you_ going to be busy later?"

Toph chuckled airily, making Katara want to barf, "Well yes, of course! I didn't mean _that_ much later!"

Katara was tired of playing games, "What exactly do you want, Toph?"

"Well, if you aren't busy with anything else, would you mind helping me get ready for my date with your brother?"

And just like that, the guilt Katara had left simmering had boiled over, evaporated, and was gone for good.

The look on Toph's face was nauseatingly smug. If Toph was allowed to blatantly drive Katara crazy with no signs of guilt, why couldn't she fight fire with fire?

After all, Toph _chose_ to come with Katara to the town and she _chose_ to stay in her arms and be spun around when she DAMN WELL could have freed herself. And the fireworks were an accident, pure and simple. Katara had done nothing wrong. And she wasn't going to let thoughts that she had get in her way of stopping her plan any more.

She had known she was going to play a bit dirty but now there was nothing holding her back. Particularly not guilt.

"Gee Toph, I'd love to help you out but…oh wait a second, actually…I definitely would NOT love to help, AT ALL! In fact, I can't think of ANYTHING I'd want to do less!"

Katara turned back around in a huff and continued on her path towards their temporary home.

Toph was amazed by how angry the elder girl had become. But being the headstrong stubborn girl she was, did not stop to consider that maybe, just maybe, there was something deeper than just their contest going on in Katara's head. So instead, she fought back.

"Sokka, be a dear and help me down wouldya?"

"A dear?"

Toph suppressed the urge to glare at the boy for his insolence and quickly plastered a sweet smile on her face.

"Yes…"dear". Is that a problem?"

"Uhh, no! Just…no."

Sokka moved to the side of the furry beast and put out his arms, inviting the tiny girl to fall into them. Katara couldn't help but turn back around to look and be disgusted at the parallel between the scene before her now, and how she had helped Toph down from the chair at the festival. This was too much, was Toph doing this on purpose? She couldn't be _that_ smart…could she?

"Katara, is everything okay?"

Katara had been so enthralled with seething over her brother and hated love interest that she hadn't noticed a worried air bender appear by her side.

"Oh, Aang. Yeah I'm fine, don't worry about me, okay?"

The look in the Avatar's eyes showed that those words were not nearly enough to satisfy him.

Katara stared into those deep orbs and was amazed. Looking into Aang's eyes was different from anyone else. True, it was definitely the perky, gentle Aang they all knew and loved on the surface. But sometimes, when the light hit them just right, you could almost see the wisdom and knowledge of all his past lives simmering just beneath the surface.

Perhaps if phrased just so, she could obtain the advice of those past lives without tipping off the current one.

"You know Katara, if you ever need someone to lend an ear, I'm always here for you."

Sweet sweet Aang, this seemed like as good a sign as any…

"Aang, do you ever have feelings that…are weird?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like..feelings that you've never had before. Feelings that don't make any sense."

Aang pondered on this.

"Well feelings aren't really supposed to make sense, Katara. That's why they're feelings and not thoughts."

_Touché_

"Okay well, _do_ you ever get feelings like that?"

"Sure, all the time! Like the other night, I had a feeling that Momo was watching me and when I looked up, he was! Turns out I fell asleep on top of the spot where he had buried his lychee nuts."

_Oy…_

"Thanks, Aang. I appreciate you listening."

Katara turned and continued walking, not forgetting to catch a heartbreaking glimpse of her brother carrying Toph bridal style as she did. She walked a few paces staring straight up, as doing this tended to help hold the tears back.

"Katara…"

She turned back around at the gentle voice once again.

"Yes?"

"Sometimes the best thing to do with confusing feelings is to give them time to settle. Take a night to think about it and see how they seem in the morning. We've had a rough few days…"

Katara was caught off guard by Aang's wisdom. He never ceased to amaze, that was for sure.

She smiled genuinely at the Avatar, "Thank you, Avatar Aang. That helps a lot."

"That's my job!"

* * *

As Katara was the first one to enter the house, she had time to quickly stake claim to the biggest couch by flopping down face first and turning her back to the world. Mentally drained, and physically now that she thought about it, the water bender tried to convince herself to sleep.

_Just pass out, Katara. You'll lose it if you don't get some shut eye…_

But as much as she coaxed, her ears would not leave their hypersensitive state of searching for a conversation from Toph and / or Sokka. It made her on edge, and definitely unable to sleep. But she wouldn't dare let _them_ know that.

She could hear the footsteps of the three as they shuffled about the house, unpacking and beginning to settle. Toph's light but always solid in their intent, Aang's even lighter as if at any moment he would spring into the air, and Sokka's loud and clumsy in their metal casing.

* * *

As minutes turned into an hour and no real conversation sparked, Katara begin to think it might just be okay to actually drift off.

But right on cue, she was roused from her drowsiness.

"Aang, I need your help getting ready for tonight."

"Uhh..me, Sifu?"

Aang pointed to himself as if Toph had forgotten who she was talking to…or that she couldn't see.

"Yes you! Since Sugar Queen is pouting I need _someone_ to help me. Come on, Avatar..give me a hand, would ya? Please?"

Aang glanced at Katara on the couch. Although he felt guilty admitting it, his loyalty would always be to her. But Toph was still his friend, and right now she apparently needed him.

"Okay Toph, I'll help you out."

"Great, follow me!"

Toph led Aang into the next room and Katara was free to slam a clenched fist into the side of the overstuffed couch.

"What's your problem?"

The frustrated girl looked up, she had been so zeroed in on Toph that she hadn't noticed Sokka was still in the room.

And that's when she noticed the distressed look on his face.

"What's _your_ problem?"

"Do I really need to explain?"

_No…_

Without waiting for a reply Sokka went outside to fill Aapa's water trough. Katara looked after, then rose to follow.

As she watched her brother methodically move about, Katara leaned against a wooden pillar holding the roof above the veranda. He seemed quite distraught – how could she not have noticed until now?

"So what are you thinking, Sokka?"

Sokka struggled under the weight of a large bucket of water.

"I don't know, nothing!"

Katara bent the water from the bucket to Appa's trought where the furry fellow immediately began to guzzle.

Sokka flipped the bucket upside down and sat on it, leaning his elbows onto his knees.

"What do you want me to say, Katara? I mean give me a break; you guys go on a side trip, nearly get killed, become violently angry at each other, and then Toph asks me out! I'm a little shell shocked over here!"

Katara stared into space. She hadn't considered how confusing this must be for her brother. Sokka noticed the thoughtful look on her face.

"Can you fill me in here, sis? I'd really appreciate it."

Katara wanted to help her brother. But she wanted to stop Toph's date more. But by the look on Sokka's face, maybe she would be doing both.

"Sokka, you seem unsure about your date with Toph…"

Sokka paused in thought for a moment.

"Well..that's because I am! I mean she's younger than me AND mean AND scary! But I guess…I guess when I stop to think about it, she's got her cute side as well…Gah, I don't know! Help me, Katara!"

Katara moved over to her brother and knelt down to the ground beside him.

"Woahhh big brother, take it easy. If you're this unsure then you shouldn't do it."

Sokka looked down into his sister's matching azure eyes, "Don't do it? Katara I already said yes! She'll kill me, literally!"

"Sometimes the best thing to do with confusing feelings is to give them time to settle. Take a night to think about it and see how they seem in the morning. And besides, isn't it better that she be a bit disappointed now than later if you do decide it's a bad idea?"

Sokka paused, "I suppose you're right…But what do I say to her?"

"I'll tell her for you."

"You will…really?"

"Sure...I'll even hang out with her tonight instead. It'll give us time to patch things up."

"Wow Katara…thank you. That helps a lot!"

"Sure thing."

Sokka stood up and walked into the house with a spring with his step – leaving his armored shoes by the door.

Katara walked over and picked them up. She tapped a finger on the bottom, they were indeed encased in solid metal.

_Gotcha…_

_

* * *

_

**_A/N : Uh oh, Katara's up to no good! And without any sort of guilt trip holding her back there's no telling what she'll do! But is it really gone for good? It is Katara after all..._**

**_Stay tuned!_**


	10. The Plan

**A/N - BE SURE TO READ!**

**Wow can it really be true? The story is continuing? WELL for those of you who have waited patiently, thank you so much for doing so!**

**But here's the deal ya'll - I'm extremely swamped in my life right now, I have very little time to work on this story. HOWEVER that doesn't mean I can't if I feel people are interested. My last chapter had a good number of people add it to their story alerts, but only about 3 reviews. I know this sounds like a bunch of whining, but if I'm going to set aside time to write this I want to know that at least some people are actually reading.**

**Therefore, I'm going to need some reviews for this story not to shut down for good. If I can get a few (I'm not asking for a ton here!) I not only will continue, but will update more than once every few months, haha. And I don't even need good reviews, just something to know you're out there and engaged!**

**Okay, that is all. Glad to be back! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 10: The Plan**

The door to the bathroom had been locked for over an hour now. Katara knew this, because she had been waiting outside for at least forty minutes of it, just sitting and watching though slits of wood. She imagined this is what an assassin must feel like. What a boring job…

* * *

"Am I doing it right, Sifu?"

"How should I know, Aang? Does it look right?"

Aang studied his teacher's face. He had not done it right.

"Uhh…so blush goes on the _cheeks_ you said?"

"What? YES! It goes where you BLUSH!"

"Oh…"

…

"Just give me the wash cloth."

* * *

Katara had initially been ready to pounce the second the door handle moved but now she was more tempted to go find a snack. Or at least she would have, had Sokka not shoveled them all away in a feeding frenzy. He had gone to the marketplace to get more but she knew her brother would take his sweet time getting back, for fear of facing Toph.

Which worked out quite well on Katara's behalf…

* * *

Aang stood close to Toph, so as not to make her strain her damaged hearing, "You know, the monks always said that beauty is in its purest state when left untouched by human hand."

"You're just saying that because you can't maneuver an eyeliner pencil to save your life."

"Well…that may be true. But so is what the monks said. You look beautiful as you are, Toph. I promise, you don't need all this…_stuff_."

Toph looked away with a small smile and blush, from his words and close proximity,

"Thanks Aang, appreciate it…"

* * *

At last Katara's opportunity had come. She knew she'd have to time it just right. She stared intently at the door as it opened. Out stepped Aang, followed by Toph who looked…the same?

_What the heck were they doing in there that made me have to sit here so long?_

Without giving it more though, she crept out of the linen closet she had been hiding in, slipped silently into the bathroom as Aang and Toph disappeared around the corner, and gently but firmly shut and latched the bathroom door.

She looked at herself in the mirror and held her own stare. _Do you Really want to do this, Katara?_

The reflection was clearly hers, but with something burning behind those eyes that she had never seen in herself.

_Yes. Do it now…and never question it again._

Katara removed her hair from its usual braid…and tried to picture her brother's face.

* * *

"Well at least you can tie a bow right, Aang." Toph elbowed Aang in the ribs roughly as he finally pulled the knot tight on her dress. It wasn't exactly a "bow", but it would serve its purpose.

"I'm surprised you packed different outfits for the trip, to be honest."

"I didn't. These stuck up Ba Sing Se snobs stocked our closets with this fancy junk. But I guess it actually ended up coming in handy for me after all!"

Aang paused. He had very much wanted to ask Toph about her sudden request for a date with the Water Tribe Warrior but was too scared of the physical consequences. But perhaps helping her get ready had softened her? Just the thought of asking and the resulting backlash sent his heart racing…

"What are you so panicky about?"

Whoops…busted.

"I just uh…was curious..about you and Sokka."

"What _about_ it."

Aang could hear the venom in her voice. He had figured Sokka's acceptance of the date would put her in a nicer disposition, but it seemed to be doing the opposite somehow.

"Well I just though, it was sort of out of nowhere, you know?" Aang held his breath in anticipation.

"…Maybe you're just oblivious."

This, he could not deny. He exhaled deeply as Toph turned away.

"But, I guess you wouldn't be the only one…"

* * *

Katara's transformation was almost complete. The final two steps were; removing the tell tale smell of girl and making the Avatar get lost. Moving slowly, Katara opened the door and peeked. Nobody to be seen - perfect.

The water bender snuck out the back door and around to Appa's personal stable. He had eaten his fill and now was in a sleepy half-conscious state. He groaned happily as he smelled Katara approach, but then looked off put by her appearance as he glanced up.

"Hey Appa, it's really me. I have a strange favor to ask."

Appa stared at the young girl blankly, she looked and sounded funny but he knew it was still her.

"Just stay still, Pal."

Katara climbed onto Appa's back and began to immerse herself in his thick white fur, virtually rolling around in it. Appa was utterly confused and let out another low groan to tell her so.

"I know I know, it's weird…just bear with me."

* * *

"What time is it now?"

Aang looked outside at the sun setting behind the wall, "Sun's almost down."

Toph clapped her hands together, "Alright then, let's get this show on the road!"

Aang glanced around the room, as if expecting to see the second member of the soon-to-be-date sitting there, patiently waiting.

"Uhh where's Sokka?"

Toph suddenly looked distraught, "You mean he didn't tell you where he was going? I don't sense him in the house anywhere!"

Aang could see his Sifu getting upset, "I'm sure he's around! I think I saw him go outside a while ago, he must still be there. I'll go check!"

Aang sped outside and looked around, but there was no sign of Sokka to be had. Momo saw his master and ran up to him, holding something, "Momo, whaddaya got there?"

Aang struggled to pry the item from the lemur's paw, but quickly prevailed. It was a small folded piece of parchment with his name written on the front. As he unfolded it, some of Appa's stray hair fell out. Not thinking much of it, he brushed the remainder off the page and read the message:

_Aang,_

_Went to market to get more food, want to surprise Toph by making dinner instead of going out. Could really use help when you're done with her. Don't tell anyone, just get here asap._

_-Sokka_

Aang scratched his head in confusion and looked down at Momo, "He's _making_ her dinner now?"

The lemur began to get excited, as he recognized the word "dinner". He climbed up Aang's side and began to search through his clothing for treats.

"Alright Momo, alright! I guess you can come too if you're so hungry."

Aang took one final glance at the house to make sure nobody "saw" before air bending himself over the stone wall of the yard and beginning his trek towards the marketplace.

Had Aang not been so oblivious, as Toph had claimed, maybe he would have noticed the note wasn't written in Sokka's usual near-illegible scrawl; but in a neat curved hand-writing which could only be described as distinctly female.

* * *

Toph tried to stop herself, but couldn't manage to not pace back and force across the room. Was she actually being stood up? On her first real date? Inconceivable! And yet…she couldn't sense Sokka anywhere. She prayed Aang had found him.

Finally the sliding door leading to the back yard and Appa's stable was opened and in stepped…a big blob. The clunk of the metal shoes was a dead give away…

"Sokka!"

Katara looked at Toph and quickly killed the guilt that threatened to return. This was happening…for better or for worse.

The young blind girl ran up to her "date", "Uhh it is _you_ right? I can't really tell in those weird shoes."

Katara had been living in close quarters with her brother for her entire life…she could replicate the manner in which he spoke almost identically. And luckily, the pitch and timbre of his voice currently wasn't an issue…

"The one and only! Sorry to keep you waiting, I was feeding Appa."

"Ehhh no offense but I can kind of tell, you sort of smell like him."

Katara scratched the back of her neck, pretending to be embarrassed, "Oh whoops, yeah I guess that would make sense. Want me to shower?"

"No, it's okay…the smell will probably wear off soon. Besides I think I'm pretty immune to it after a month riding on that monster!"

"Haha, yeah…that's probably why I didn't notice it either."

Katara looked into the young earth bender's eyes. So much hope and admiration behind that pale green, and all of it directed her way. But technically, directed toward _Sokka_. And it made her heart deeply ache to remember it wasn't actually meant for her.

"So um, should we go?"

Katara snapped out of it. She had commit to this plan and she was going to do it right. She bent her elbow at her waist and put Toph's hand in the crook of it, "Of course my lady, let us go!"

Toph giggled at "Sokka's" gentleman persona but let her hand remain. She let her date lead her out the door of the house towards the paved road pointing towards the restaurant district of the City.

* * *

A neighbor across the street looked at the odd couple as he went to retrieve the mail from his embossed mailbox. As Katara removed the large gold house key from the hole she saw his shocked gaze and held it, glaring at him deeply until he turned away. Nobody was going to ruin this plan by saying some small-minded thing and tipping off Toph.

After he had turned away, she affectionately returned to the task at hand, "Ready, Toph?"

Toph blushed a pale red, she was indeed ready. She tightened the grip on her date's arm, "Yes…aaand, I'm really glad you said yes, Sokka. Thank you."

Toph's soft nature took Katara by surprise. But only momentarily. She placed her hand over the one Toph had in the crook of her arm, "I'd have been crazy not to."

* * *

**A/N - Oh SNAP! Katara ain't playing around here! My gut instinct is that this can only end badly, how about you?**


	11. In Too Deep

**A/N - Hey everyone, I got a good number of reviews on the last chapter so, as promised, here is the next installment! The deal is the same though - as unbelievable busy as I was last time I wrote it's more so this time. So I'll need reviews (good or bad) for this story not to stop for good. But enough about that, onward!**

**Chapter 11: In Too Deep**

Katara glared at the people of Ba Sing Se as she walked down the street with her date, silently threatening to hurt anyone who said something stupid. Toph held the crook of "Sokka's" arm contently and allowed the tiniest of smiles grace her normally hard features. She couldn't hide her excitement, but she could at least try to tone it back.

"So spicy, right?"

Toph let out an uncharacteristic giggle, one that seemed to be turning less and less uncharacteristic by the minute. "Definitely, it's my favorite!"

"Oh, really? That's funny, because I pegged you as more of a sweet things kinda' gal. Like those um…what do you call em'? Sludge Cakes?

"What the heck, how do you know about those! They're my favorite!"

"I thought spicy food was your favorite."

"Well...my other favorite."

"Then I guess that's something we have in common."

Katara had been waiting for an opportunity to connect with Toph, and this was it. Feeling brave by the positive reaction and apparent disregard of how Sokka would know about an Earth Kingdom delicacy, she snaked her arm around the shorter girl's shoulder and kept it there – holding her close and protecting her from the continuing stares.

Toph seemed surprised and stopped in her tracks for a brief moment before double stepping to keep up with the pace of her date. She certainly seemed happy by the move.

"So how is it that you know about sludge cakes but Katara didn't?"

_Damn it! Of COURSE she would realize that…_

"Come on Toph, you can't compare me with my sister! Her palate isn't nearly refined and experienced as mine."

Katara stared at the girl under her arm and waited to see if the answer would satisfy her enough to move on in the conversation.

"Well, you do love eating a lot more than she does…"

_Thank goodness…_

"But isn't meat your favorite food, Sokka?"

_Gahhhh! _

Without a moment of consideration, Katara whipped out her best Sokka answer, more effortlessly than she would have ever preferred before today.

"Ahh well meat will always be my first love, this I cannot deny!"

Toph giggled again.

"But, there's _always_ room for more things to love, right?"

Katara snaked her arm further and pulled her cohort closer to her waist, and Toph's mind went blank.

"Uhh…yeah, right."

* * *

After a bit more walking, the odd couple reached the restaurants, where things were much busier and the stares less frequent – too many other things to see.

"Alright, spicy…spicy…"

Katara looked around at the restaurants, she couldn't really see the signs through the troves of people. But she did see a large fountain in the middle of the square. One with a ledge high enough to see from, if stood on.

"Toph, I'm gonna' see what restaurants are around, wait here a second okay? I'm gonna' push through the crowd and I don't want you to get stepped on."

"Sokka, you know I don't need anybody to protect me from being squashed, I'll squash them first!"

"Yeah well I don't want _that_ to happen either!"

Toph seemed ready to argue the point, "Just hold tight a second! I'll be fast!"

Katara lightly backed Toph up against a planter and tenderly brushed her bangs to the side of her face.

Shocked again, Katara used Toph's silence as her chance to slip away. After their first experience with crowds she didn't want to risk any sort of repeat performance.

* * *

Katara jumped onto the side of the stone fountain, a feat that proved unsurprisingly difficult in the ridiculous, amazing metal shoes. She could indeed see all the restaurants from her elevated view.

_Lets see…noodles, barbeque…seafood..aaaand…WHAT!_

In the distance Katara spied her date, waiting right where she had left her, but with an extra, _highly_ unwelcome guest.

* * *

Toph's new "friend" was being so boastfully loud in her ear that she could hear every word he said, which was quite unfortunate.

"Hey beautiful, whatchu doing standing here all alone?"

"I'm waiting for someone, and he's coming back soon so I'd amscray!"

"Woah there sweetie, there's no need for _that_ kind of attitude!"

"Well that's the only kind you're getting buddy so beat it!"

* * *

Katara made her way through the crowd towards the scene she had just witnessed. Upon seeing the look of destruction in her eyes most people moved out of the way before there was any need to shove. She finally reached Toph and the young man harassing her. He had leaned over her tiny stature in an attempt to "pin" her to the planter. If he took a step closer the young Earth Bender would probably send him flying, but that was beside the point. Her date needed protecting and Katara was the one who would be dishing it out.

Toph felt the great blob of her date's form approaching, "Uh oh, now you're gonna' get it! Can't say I didn't warn you…" Secretly, she worried if Sokka could handle a confrontation like this. She held her breath in anticipation.

Toph's provoker looked up, expecting to see a similarly aged young man approaching with a pissed off look on his face, but instead was met with…an awkwardly dressed young woman…and a pretty one at that.

"Oh…_you're_ this girl's date?"

"This young _lady_ happens to be my date, yes. And therefore it would be in your best interest to step away…now."

The young man looked Katara up and down, seeming not to notice the look in her eyes that had moved others out of her way.

"Heh…I think my night just got a _lot_ more interesting. What do you say, you two come with me? I know a party happening tonight, and if you two are so bored that you're dating each other…"

Before he could say another word Katara had slammed him against the wall of the adjacent building, a stream of water wrapped around his neck just tightly enough to be uncomfortable.

"Say anything else, and you won't be making it to that party, got it?"

The boy was too shocked to say anything, he could only stare into the anger of Katara's eyes, which he was now forced to notice.

"Got it!"  
"Yes! I got it! Please, just let me go, I'm sorry!"

Katara let him squirm under her gaze a moment longer to get the point across before retracting the water. As soon as he was free the boy slinked off as quickly as he could.

"Wow, Sokka! That was amazing, I've never seen you act like that before!"

Katara was thankful that without being able to see her form, she also couldn't see her water bend. That would have been a game over.

"Heh, yeah I guess not!" Katara scratched the back of her head.

_Stupid, that was definitely NOT a Sokka move at all!_

Katara would have been able to teach the guy a lesson in a "Sokka Style" way, but had gone white with anger before she could. Sokka wouldn't have pushed a guy up against a wall and put something to his neck, Sokka probably would have pushed him down and gotten into a scruffy fist fight, therefore attracting a crowd, making things more difficult for the date to continue.

_Oh second thought, maybe this was for the best…_

"Well I'm impressed, Sokka. To be honest, I wasn't sure you had it in you…"

Katara mocked shock, "Toph! I'm insulted! I'm a warrior of the water tribe, I think I know a thing or two about knocking some heads."

Toph giggled yet again, "Well thanks, especially because I think we both know I could have handled that. You didn't have to if you didn't.."

"But I wanted to!"

Toph looked up at "Sokka", "Y..you did?"

"Of course, you're my date! And besides, nobody should harass someone just minding their own business, female or male. It's just rude!"

Toph continued to stare.

_Oh crap…that's right, Sokka's an am I doing?_

"Sokka…I, always thought you were a little bit sexist. But…I'm impressed!"

Katara decided they needed to get to that restaurant asap so she could bring herself back to a Sokka state of mind, clearly she was slipping back to Katara with this last ordeal.  
"Well I got some sense knocked into me in Kyoshi, and occasionally it still makes an impact!"

Katara grabbed Toph's hand and began to guide her to the restaurant, which one she still didn't know, but they had to get moving before more words were exchanged. She failed to notice Toph's frown upon hearing "Kyoshi", which in her mind was just another word for "Suki".

* * *

Katara turned into the first restaurant she saw, which thankfully was the noodle one. Noodle restaurants usually had spicy options. Done and done. But she figured she should check just to be sure, Toph could really be a whiner when she wasn't happy with something.

"So we're at the noodle place, is that good with you, Toph?"

"I smelled it before we even got here…and yes, that's fine."

Toph pushed past her date into the restaurant, knocking her shoulder into "his" arm. Katara was confused, was she mad about the fight? Toph was usually a fan of those sorts of things.

"Uhhh…Toph? Is everything okay?"  
"Yeah, just peachy."

* * *

As the two sat at their table, Katara was noticing more and more how Toph refused to make eye contact. And for a blind person that was really saying something. They had ordered, and then ten intensely awkward minutes had gone by without a word other than Katara's failed attempts at conversation. After talking about the weather, Ba Sing Se and the fight that had just happened, Katara had given up on talking to a brick wall. What had happened in the five minutes of walking to the restaurant that had changed everything?

"Toph, what's wrong?"

"I told you, nothing."

"That's a lie, now tell me what's wrong."

"I told you, nothing!"

"Then why, even right now, can't you look me in the eye?"

"Uhh, duh..blind!"

Toph did her patented waving a hand in front of her face but Katara was clearly not impressed. She knew blindness made no difference, Toph always made eye contact.

"Okay fine, don't laugh."

Katara let out a heavy breath and took a long drink from her glass, how had she fallen for such an unbelievably frustrating person was beyond her. She took a hard look at the Earth Bender across the table. The last trickles of sun illuminated her face and showed without a doubt how upset she truly was.

"Toph, I thought we were having fun…I mean that stupid guy was sort of a hitch but…is that why you're mad?"

"I'm not mad."

"Toph!"

"Okay! Okay…it's not the fight, in fact I kinda' liked the fight."

Katara couldn't help but smirk, "I thought you might, so what's wrong then. Please tell me, I want to know."

"It's kinda' stupid."

"Well, try me."

Toph still wouldn't make eye contact, but at least she was talking. Getting Toph to open up to "Sokka" was proving a lot more difficult than opening up to Katara, which made her happy in a way.

"Well…I was actually really surprised you accepted this date because…I sort of thought.. you had a thing for Suki."

"Suki?"

"Yeah."

"…Oh."  
"So…was I right?"

Katara had not planned for Suki's name to come up. He supposed her brother did have romantic feeling for the fan warrior – but to answer for him would be presuming a lot.

_Crap! I don't want to COMPLETELY destroy Sokka's life but…I don't want to upset her…_

"Uh.."

"Yeah..I get it, that's what I thought."  
"NO! Toph, I mean…the only reason I'm having trouble answering is because I _did_ have feeling for Suki. _Did_, as in, the past."

"..Really?"

"Yeah! I mean, cut me some slack here! I was living in a village of only about thirty women, most of whom were either much older or related to me, and then suddenly I meet a young pretty earth kingdom girl who can kick major butt – of course I was into her!"

Toph stared daggers. With her date's current footwear and her impaired hearing she had no way of knowing whether "Sokka" was lying. Katara saw the look of concentration on Toph's face as she strained every remaining sense she had for a sign of faltering truth.

"Toph, between the time I met Suki and the time I met you I got all that out of my system. It didn't take long, but I can't help that Suki was the first girl I met on this journey."

"I see."

Katara smirked.

"Well, not really, obviously."

"So…does that help?"

Toph thought about it. Then, like a switch, her attitude ratcheted back to normal and she crossed her arms behind her head and leaned back in her chair, "So does this mean your preference is towards kick butt Earth Kingdom girls? Because I'm sensing a pattern here!"

Katara burst into laughter at how quickly Toph could turn on a dime. Her laughter was high pitched and girly, not that her date could tell. But unfortunately, someone else could.

"Katara?"

The Water Bender turned and was met with a pair of grey eyes staring back just outside the patio of the restaurant.

Aang took in the situation. Toph and Katara, who had been fighting like mortal enemies hours ago were now laughing and smiling over dinner, with the elder girl wearing her hair in a high ponytail and looking like she had gotten caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

A silent moment of realization crossed between them.

"Excuse me Toph, I need to use the restroom."

In a way it was the first truth Katara had told all night, for as she made her way to face Aang, her stomach quickly tied in knots.

**A/N: Uh Oh...busted! What will Aang do? This must be a very difficult scene for him to witness...**


	12. Damaged

**A/N: Hey guys! Well I got some lovely reviews that made me quite happy! So here is the second to final chapter of Unexpected Complications ::Gasp!:: That's right ladies and gents, we're reaching the end of the story here. So that being said, I want to start getting a pairing lined up for the next one. I really love Aang, and I'm such a dick to him in this story it upsets me! So I'd love to do something with him +...pretty much anyone! I'm open to any pairing with the 5 main characters (Toph, Katara, Sokka, Aang and Zuko) and I don't care if it's a hetero or homo pairing. **

**Please let me know what pairing you guys would like to see next! Influence what you read!**

**Gracias!**

**Chapter 12 - Damaged**

Aang stared at the object of his affection as she made her way out of the restaurant - dressed as her brother. He stared, but she wouldn't meet his gaze. He might have talked himself out of the possibility of Katara and Toph on a date, had Katara not looked so completely guilty, making it abundantly clear.

* * *

Katara walked up to the Avatar and stood at his side, still unable to look him in the eye.

"Katara, what's going on here?"

"Aang…I…uh."

There was a long pause as the air bender was at a loss for words. His mouth was dry and his stomach felt like he had swallowed a brick of lead.

"Just tell me why, Katara."

Silence.

"Please just tell me! I won't be mad!"

"Aang…you're already getting mad."

"That's because you won't even look at me! Is this some sort of trick to get back at her? Like revenge for your fight earlier?"

"No."

Aang was becoming frantic. He tried to convince Katara to tell him something other than what he already knew was happening. But she wouldn't oblige.

"Please Katara! Tell me what you're doing here with Toph! Why are you dressed like Sokka?"

"Because I took his date with Toph, okay!"

Aang's peaking hysterics were momentarily stopped. And they would stay that way, as long as his beloved would answer his next question with a "yes".

"So is it because you're playing a trick on her, and you want to get her back for earlier?"

…

"No."

Aang felt his heart leap into his throat, his whole world was suddenly spinning out of control and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He wanted to scream or break something or shout, do things the monks would definitely have frowned upon. He looked at Katara, who still couldn't look back, and decided on anger.

"I'm going to tell him."

Finally Katara's eyes snapped up, "What? NO! Aang please, I'm sorry! I really am, you have no idea how sorry. I didn't want you to find out this way…"

"Find out what, Katara? That you have a crush on Toph? All this time I thought it was boys I needed to look out for, like Jet and Haru. But all this time it was TOPH!"

"Well…not exactly. This has all happened very suddenly."

"And _why_ in the world should I believe _that_?"

"Because I love you Aang!"

Aang blanched. Katara had picked her words poorly.

"I mean…you mean so much to me. I never meant to hurt you. I care about you, like…"

"A brother?"

Katara looked away again. How could she talk about loving him like her brother, when she was dressed like and pretending to be him on a date?

"I'm telling him Katara. He deserves to know."

"Aang…please. He can't."

"Yes he can. I'll make sure of that."

"Aang, don't!"

"Then I'll tell Toph! She REALLY deserves to know the truth!"

The only thing that sounded more terrifying than Sokka finding out was Toph – from which mental, emotional and physical pain would definitely ensue.

Aang began to walk past Katara towards the entrance to the restaurant. She grabbed his arm before he could, "Aang please! Let's just talk about this, I didn't mean to upset you!"

"It's a little late for that, _Sokka_!"

* * *

Toph stared blindly at her bowl of noodles. She could feel the steam caressing her face, but it was progressively becoming less intense. She had been forced to take enough cotillion classes to know that it was bad manners to eat before everyone was at the table. She always hated that rule…

* * *

Aang and Katara's arguing was not going unnoticed to passer by's. People stared curiously and a few obnoxious teenaged boys called out, thinking it was a lovers' spat.

Katara vaguely registered the forming crowd, but her adrenaline rush was keeping her too focused on stopping Aang to care. But suddenly both her and the air bender were snapped out of it,

"Sokka!"

Aang jolted around. His normally peaceful nature was being completely overwhelmed by the pain of his broken heart. He wanted Katara to suffer like she was making him,

"Oh hey, look who it is Katara!"

The water bender's stomach dropped, "Aang…please, I'm begging you. Don't do this."

Tears began to well up in Katara's eyes. She truly had not meant to hurt the monk, by any means.

"But she's right here looking for her date! And it would be wrong to hide from a blind girl."

"Aang…"

Unlike Katara, Aang was not wearing metal shoes. Toph quickly picked him out in the crowd.

"Twinkle Toes? Is that you?"

Aang made a move towards Toph but was once again stopped by Katara's hand.

"Okay wait! If I tell her, will you stop this?"

"Don't lie Katara, you aren't going to tell her anything."

"I will I will! Just let us finish eating…"

"NO!"

"Please! Let her finish eating and then I'll take her to the park and tell her. I swear!"

Aang looked contemplative. The idea of Katara spilling her guts to an angry Toph sounded like a much better way to watch her repent than him just blurting it out. He wanted to watch her squirm in the mess she had made for herself. A thought he had never once had in his life.

"And why should I let you take your time?"

"Don't do it for me, Aang. Do it for Toph."

He thought on this a moment. His anger _was_ towards Katara, not his earth bending Sifu.

"Alright."

"Thank yo.."

"But if I don't see it happen by sundown, I'm telling her myself!"

_Spirits he's going to be watching us? No added pressure there…_

"I'm disappointed in your Katara."

"I know, Aang. I'm disappointed in myself too."

Aang turned away and then air bended himself up and over the roof of the restaurant. Katara used the crowds turned attention at having just seen the Avatar as an opportunity to sneak back to Toph.

Toph stood in the front entryway of the restaurant.

"Sokka, where'd Aang go?

"Umm..Aang was just saying hello. I told him to get lost before he interrupted our date any more."

Toph laughed, Katara felt like she was about to throw up.

"Well can we hurry up and eat already, it's gonna' get cold!"

"Yeah…sure."

* * *

Katara followed Toph back to their table where the younger girl immediately began to shovel away her dinner. Katara slowly stirred her own meal but had completely lost her appetite. Toph could sense the lack of vibrations in the table.

"What's wrong, Snoozles? Don't like your food?"

"Huh? Oh…yeah. No, not really."

Toph stopped eating for a moment and stared, "Do you want the rest of mine?"

Katara stared at the green-eyed girl, "You would give me your food?"

Toph blushed lightly, "Sure, I'll trade you. I'm not a picky eater."

Katara felt an overwhelming amount of guilt hit her with this small gesture. Guilt she thought had been banished forever. But it was there, had always been there. She had been in complete denial to think she could swing this plan and get out scott free. Toph was going to get hurt, Sokka was going to get hurt and Aang was already more hurt than she had ever seen him.

_Shit_

Katara felt like herself again for the first time in days. And it felt terrible.

"Hey Sokka? Are you okay?"

"…Yeah Toph. I'm fine, finish your food, okay?"

"Uhh…okay."

Tentatively at first, Toph went back to finishing her meal. Katara managed to force a bit down for her date's sake, one of the most physically demanding tasks she'd ever had to do. She knew after this meal she would have to tell Toph the truth. She would have to fix this mess. But it was probably beyond fixing at this point…

Her one regret was that she would never be able to make Toph love her back. In the inner workings of her mind, she had thought that making Toph fall for her date, "Sokka", would eventually equal her falling for the one who (she would find out) was really her date, Katara.

_What a stupid stupid plan this has been, Katara. Clearly you aren't the real Sokka or you'd have thought of a better one._

* * *

As Katara led Toph out of the restaurant she felt as if she was walking towards her doom. Toph clung close, she was clearly aware of the shift in Sokka's persona, but hoped that just acting natural would snap him out of it.

Toph smiled up at her date's face, unaware of the pained expression on it, "So what now?"

Katara took a deep breath, "Well, I sorta' thought we could go for a walk through the park, before we head back."

Toph's heart leapt, "Sure!"

Katara knew that somewhere nearby, Aang was watching them. Waiting, just in case she chickened out. Meaning she couldn't. If Toph was going to find out anyways, it might as well be from the source.

Katara thought one last time about how unrealistic and childish this plan had been. In her head, once the date was over, she would take Toph somewhere private. Then she would slowly remove the metal shoes and stand bare foot on the ground. Toph would register what was happening and momentarily be upset, or angry. But Katara would wrap the small girl in her arms and say how the whole time the person Toph was giggling and blushing for, the one who's arm she had clung to, the one who made her laugh and smile, had been her! Not Sokka!

Then, after a moment of struggling against Katara's grasp (half-heartedly), Toph would realize that it was the truth. And when it came right down to it, Katara was the one she truly loved. Then Toph would look up with those beautiful pale green eyes, and say something like, "Katara, it was you all along, wasn't it?" and Katara would say, "Yes Toph, I believe it was." And then Toph would say back, "I-I'm so sorry it took me so long to realize…" and before she could say more, Katara would silence her by leaning down and crushing her lips against hers in a moment of intense passion. Toph would gasp out of surprise and Katara would use the opportunity to explore the earth bender's mouth with her ton…

"Uh, Sokka? Are we gonna' go in the park or what?"

"Huh? OH! Sorry about that, yeah…let's go."

Katara took Toph's tiny yet strong hand and the two began down the gravel path.

* * *

The sun had gone down and Katara knew if she didn't say something soon, someone else would…

She sighed as she looked around for a place to sit. A stone bench in the middle of a clearing seemed appropriate enough. That way witnesses would be able to see if Toph tried to kill her. Not that she would blame her for taking such actions….

"Lets rest for a second, huh Toph?"

"Really? You're _tired_? We've only been walking for.."

"YES I'm tired, come on!"

Katara led Toph to the bench and sat her down. She looked at the tiny girl, wearing a beautiful dress that definitely looked like it had been tied by a blind person. Toph looked back up at her with beautifully expectant and confused eyes.

Katara began to pace back in forth in front of Toph, unsure of how to begin. Toph was done with the "pretend nothing is wrong" strategy, as it clearly was not working.

"Sokka! What's wrong with you!"

"Uhh nothing." Katara continued to pace, searching for the right words.

"Don't give me that! I told _you_ when I was upset about Suki!"

Katara stopped pacing, "Yeah, but I practically had to twist your arm for you to tell me!"

"Well then make it easier on yourself and just say it, because I won't _practically_ twist."

Katara stopped pacing. She had to say something, now. Game over.

"Sorry Toph, I'm just nervous."

"About?"

"I just…have to tell you something. And I'm not sure how you're gonna' react…"

Toph's breath hitched…could it really be?

"Well…why don't you just tell me then and find out."

Katara scratched the back of her head. She was hardly paying attention to Toph and more just struggling to begin the confession.

"Sorry, it's just not easy. Uh, where to begin…I just, I've never had to tell anybody something like _this_ before!"

"Something…like _this_?"

_Let's see, I could tell her my feelings to start. But she might just get mad again. Should I take the shoes off now or explain first?_

"Not even, to Suki?"

"Huh? No, never."

_I could tell her I'm sorry first. But sorry isn't going to mean much at this point…_

"Sokka?"

"Hm?"

"Are you trying to say that you love me?"

_I could…WHAT?_

Katara was finally snapped out of her thoughts. But before she could blink (let alone respond), Toph had raised the earth beneath her feet, bringing herself to her date's height, her eyes were closed and she leaned in towards Katara.

Toph held the pose for what felt like a long time, waiting for "Sokka" to kiss her.

_Crap Crap Crap! What do I do! Do I pull away?_

Without much further thought, Katara's subconscious began to react for her. She wrapped her arms around Toph's slender waist as she felt the earth bender's hands fist into the fabric of her brother's shirt, gripping it tightly. She smelled the rustic scent of earth on Toph's hair, and felt herself beginning to slip to the point of no return.

"I told you to tell her yourself, Katara. Now I will."

Katara's eyes snapped open, coming back to reality. She turned around and saw Aang. She couldn't tell he if was more angry or shocked, but he was certainly a great amount of both.

Toph had also come back to reality and sensed Aang's presence. She began to blush a deep red, "Aang, can't you just stop interrupting us for two seconds?"

Aang began to walk towards Toph once again, and like before, Katara went to plead with him to stop. But before either could move, they heard a shout.

"Hey! Hey you guys!"

_No…_

Katara could not have been more mortified, or Aang more pleased.

"Wow..sometimes Karma just works faster than you'd ever imagine."

The Avatar crossed his arms and stepped back, he no longer needed to do any dirty work, because Sokka was going to do all the yelling for him in about ten seconds.

Even at a distance Toph could tell someone familiar was coming, but her feet must have been on the fritz…because who it was couldn't possibly be who she though…

"Wait…_who_ is that?"

Katara looked at Toph, then Aang and finally her brother running their way, getting closer and closer. Without so much as a second glance, she took off running towards her sibling in a dead sprint.

* * *

Sokka saw his sister running towards him at an amazing speed. As she approached, he noticed her strange appearance. And as she got nearer still, he saw that she was wearing his clothes, shoes and hairstyle. Sokka stopped in his tracks.

"What the heck are you wear.."

The Water Tribe Warrior was suddenly tackled by his sister, who began "fighting" with him.

"Katara! What is wrong with you! Get off me!"

Sokka did his best to push his sister off without doing anything too damaging, like punching or kicking. As the two rolled about in their scuffle, Katara began to remove the metal boots as best she could, while still giving Sokka a battle.

Aang and Toph ran towards the two siblings, nearing them just as Katara slipped off the second shoe.

"Here, take these things back!"

Sokka grabbed his beloved shoes from his sister, "Jeez Katara, you could have just given them to me. What was that all about?"

"Sorry, I just got…excited."

Sokka stared blankly at his sister. She sure was a weird one.

Aang stared at Katara. With that little stunt she just pulled, Toph wouldn't be able to tell which one of them had been approaching, and which one she had been nearly kissing. For all she knew, Sokka had only just now lost his shoes.

Toph was utterly confused by the sudden appearance of Aang and Katara, and by her first kiss being stopped, "What is going on here!"

"I don't know, Katara just attacked me and…"

"What? You have to speak up Sokka! Come on, you've been doing fine all night!"

Sokka looked lost, he turned to his sister, "I have?"

"Uhh…apparently."

Aang refused to let this lie go on any longer, "Are you _sure_ Katara? Are you sure there isn't _maybe_ another reason why Toph's confused?"

"What? Aang you have to either talk louder or right in my ear! Come _on_ people!"

Sokka suddenly jumped to his feet, "Okay I don't know what's going on here, but it'll have to wait!"

Katara noticed the distressed look on her brother's face, "What's wrong, Sokka?"

"The Wall…it's being attacked."

The anger in Aang's eyes was immediately replaced with genuine concern, "Attacked by what?"

"A drill…a big one."

Katara stared, "Can a drill actually get through?"

"This one can, it's already started."

"I have to stop it!" Aang pulled out his glider and unfurled its wings.

"I'm coming with you!"

"No Katara! I think you've done enough damage today."

"Aang! We have to put that behind us right now, this is an emergency!"

Aang stared at her moment, then nodded.

At this point everybody was talking loudly and sternly enough for Toph to gather most of the conversation, "Well I'm coming too!"

"No Toph, I need you to help me get word to the Earth King, we need to tell him his City is under attack. Then we'll head to the Wall."

"Aww!"

"Besides Toph, you shouldn't be fighting right now, in your condition!"

"Whichever one of you said that is asking for it…"

"…"

Sokka interrupted, "We'll meet you guys at the wall soon. Try to access the situation as best you can and we'll be there soon."

Aang nodded, "Right. Grab on Katara."

Katara grabbed onto Aang's glider as he took off towards the Wall of Ba Sing Se.

Sokka watched the Avatar and his sister go and figured he had better patch things up with Toph before they headed towards the palace.

"Toph, before we go, I just wanted to say I'm sorry…"

"…Sorry for what?"

"For bailing on our date. It wasn't right, I should have just said I was sorta' confused. I just didn't want to hurt you."

Toph looked thoughtful a moment.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. So, I'm really sorry, again."

"Oh you are, huh?"

Toph smiled softly, "I had a feeling."

* * *

**A/N - Oh my goodness, does Toph know? Has she known the whole time? Stay tuned to find out! And if you haven't already, please read the top for important information regarding my next story and who will be in it.**


	13. Unexpected Complications

**A/N PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE THE STORY – FINAL CHAPTER!**

Well guys, here we are. The final chapter (and more than twice as long as the ones before!) I'm touched by all the love I got from this story, this was my first fan fic and I really can't imagine a much better experience. NEXT STORY is still up for debate in terms of the pairing, except that it must involve Aang (I love him, what can I say!). So let me know in the comments who you'd like to see, as well as what you think of the story as a whole. Thank you guys, enjoy the final chapter!

**Chapter 13: Unexpected Complications**

The flight to the wall of Ba Sing Se was…_tense_, to say the least. The main reason being the pit of anxiety in both Aang and Katara's gut, wondering what sort of metal fire nation monstrosity was awaiting them, and the other reason being that Katara was clinging tightly to the Avatar's lithe body as they flew, the same Avatar who currently despised her in a way he had never experienced in his life.

It wasn't pleasant.

Katara stared into Aang's eyes. She knew he must have felt her gaze upon him, but he was doing an awfully good job of pretending not to.

"Aang, I.."

"Nope!"

"But if we don't talk about this now.."

"I said, 'Nope'"

"Come on Aang, you know I didn't do it to hurt yo.."

"Katara, _please_ be quiet! You know my responsibilities come to the world first, and right now that's where my focus needs to stay."

Katara was taken aback, the maturity that had been slowly fostering on the young Air Bender's face over the past weeks was starting to become more and more apparent. She was impressed, and embarrassed.

"You're right, I'm sorry. We'll talk about it later, Aang."

"Thank you...Katara."

Hearing Aang address her by her name gave Katara a bit of hope. At least this meant she wasn't _completely_ dead to him.

* * *

"Oh wow, people attacking us. What a refreshing change of pace."

Toph smacked away an incoming bolder as her cohort fought off the remaining guards with his boomerang.

"Toph! _Grr_…_Ah_! Can you please take this seriously.._Woah_! For like, _Err_..two seconds?"

"Excuse me? Look at this face…"

Toph stared at Sokka with an exaggerated stony face, "See…serious."

"Toph!"

"Fine, fine! Enough messing around."

Toph braced her small frame into a rigid horse stance and shot her fists out in front of her chest, before separating them to either side of her body. The ground before her trembled, cracked, and gave way, revealing a clear pathway for her and Sokka.

"Sheesh, about time!"

Sokka and Toph ran up the newly formed path towards the entrance of the castle, hoping they would make it to the Earth King before the drill.

* * *

Aang landed smoothly atop the wall and sheathed his glider. Katara gently unwrapped herself from his body and looked at the scene below. The drill was gigantic - larger than every home in her village combined, plus the watchtower, plus the healer's tent. It was by far the most intimidating thing she had ever seen.

She knew there was a good chance Azula was inside. And although she would never admit it, just the thought of facing the fire nation princess again sent an icy chill of intense fear down her spine.

Katara began to quiver slightly as she stared down at the metal creature slowly but surely eating into the "impenetrable" wall. Her pupils dilated at the thought of what was to come. But the only thing she could think of was the possibility of never getting a chance to apologize for the mess she had caused. What if everything ended like this…with Toph being mad at her, Aang being mad at her, and Sokka being…well, probably mad once he found out the truth from Aang.

She was quickly snapped out of her thoughts by a hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly and turned, her quivering stopped. Aang stared Katara straight in the eyes. He looked strangely taller, older, and somehow, at ease.

"You need to stay calm, nerves mean mistakes. We need to avoid those right now."

Katara stared into the Avatar's grey eyes for a few seconds before nodding in agreement. It certainly wasn't forgiveness, but she'd take it. At least for now.

* * *

Sokka and Toph made their way through the streets of Ba Sing Se on a wave of earth, the non-bender awkwardly clinging to the young girl's back. Behind them followed an equally intimidating wave of earth kingdom warriors, deployed by the king himself.

After about ten minutes of blabbering from Sokka, Toph had presented the Earth King with her prestigious family name and iconic flying boar seal. The Be Fong's had once been military prodigies, and responsible for keeping the peace in the earth kingdom streets. They had since retired to a life of intense luxury, but their name was practically royalty and all the Earth King needed to hear.

Sirens resounded through the streets of the City, announces to its residents that the warriors would soon be coming through on waves of earth. People flocked to get out of the way as Toph's first wave made an appearance.

"Toph, do you think we'll make it in time?"

"You tell me Snoozles, I don't even know what we're up against yet…"

"It's uh…really something."

"Do you think the others are okay?"

"I'm sure Aang is fine, I'm just worried about my sister."

Toph felt her heart leap a little. Aang would indeed be fine. Katara on the other hand…

She quickly shook her head to erase the thought.

"I _told_ you before Sokka, your sister is tough. She can handle herself. Better than you, that's for sure!"

"Hey!"

* * *

Katara looked up as she heard Sokka's yell. He and Toph popped up on a large block of earth that she had slid up the "safe" side of the wall. Katara's breathe hitched, Toph looked absolutely beautiful. Her hair was slightly ruffled from the ride over and the tiniest hint of flush shown on her cheeks from her recent physical activity.

She wondered if Toph was still mad for admitting her feelings on the walk over. She figured she had to be, but if so she certainly wasn't showing it. In fact…she didn't seem to be acknowledging the Water Bender's existence at all. Katara supposed, and hoped, that it was because of the dire situation at hand and nothing more.

Toph walked towards the other edge of the wall and felt the drill far beneath her feet. As terrifying as the actual sight was to Katara, the feeling of the enormous metal presence was almost too much for the little Earth Bender to handle. She began to tremble in a way very similar to how Katara had moments ago, but this was different. Toph _never _showed fear.

All the events of the past three days seemed to fade from memory as Katara watched. All that mattered now was that her closest and dearest friend was in petrifying fear, and she needed to be there for her.

Toph balled her fists in an attempt to stop her shivering. She wanted to brace herself against the wall's ledge but doing so would only give an even clearer view of what lay below.

Katara placed a gentle hand on Toph's shoulder, as Aang had for her. But it didn't help, if anything the young girl seemed to shake more. Aang and Sokka talked plans of attack behind her, and she knew soon it would be time. Time to make their move, strike from all angles, and hope to Spirits that Azula and her friends weren't the ones inside.

Toph couldn't fight like this. She would be taken down, immediately. Katara recognized the fear as the same kind that had petrified her and left her open to Ty Lee's attack, back in the forest. If Toph hadn't showed up, she wouldn't have made it out alive.

The events that had started Katara's infatuation with the small girl seemed so very long ago at this point, like a distant dream. They seemed that way, she guessed, because her love for the girl had started long before that. She simply had not realizing it.

"Toph, I know it's terrifying. I'm scared too."

"But can you _feel_ it, Katara? I can. It's going to crush us, we won't even put a scratch on it!" The beautiful color that had been in Toph's face had faded to a sickly pale.

"Don't say that, Toph…we've made it through messes like this before, and we can do it again. If we all work together…"

"Psh! What planet do you live on Sugars…you know this is nothing like anything we've seen before. I don't think the WORLD has seen anything like this before!"

"Well…I definitely know it's nothing like _you've_ seen before."

Toph abruptly stopped her shivering, "Wait…did you just make a blind joke?"

"Ummm…yes?"

...

There was a pause, Katara quickly pulled her hand back from Toph's shoulder, perhaps the blind jokes were only funny when the actual blind one made them.

An agonizingly long moment went by before Toph finally cracked a smirk, then began to chuckle. Katara let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

"Wow Sugars, I didn't know you had it in you!"

Katara stared at Toph and found tears pricking the corners of her eyes. Before she had time to process the thought, she grabbed Toph and pulled her in close, enveloping her as much as possible and holding her close. She wouldn't let go for anything.

Toph's eyes widened in surprise. But the shock quickly turned into understanding. None of it mattered anymore - the fighting, the petty arguments, the catty games, the possible lying. Because when it came right down to it, and now was surely as "right down to it" as could get, it didn't matter.

Katara spoke into the top of Toph's head, silky black hair muffling her words, "I'm so sorry Toph, for everything. I just want you to know, if I could take it all back, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

Katara's muffled words were still in close enough range for Toph to understand. And she _definitely_ understood…

"I wouldn't. I wouldn't change a thing."

The Water Bender removed her head and looked down at her companion, searching for signs of an ulterior motive. There were none.

"And besides, I should be the one who's sorry. I was really mean to you and…you didn't deserve it. So…I guess that means I'm sorry too."

Toph looked away as she said this, a pointless and yet all to human gesture. Feeling Katara's gaze resting on her, she took a tanned hand and squeezed it tightly, "I changed my mind, I'm not scared anymore."

Katara couldn't help but smile. It was clearly a lie, but she'd play along, "Oh you're not? What made you change your mind? Too much work being scared?"

"Yeahhh you know, I mean what's the point? If two kick-butt bending masters and the Avatar can't destroy that thing, I doubt it's even of this world!"

Unbeknownst to the girls, Aang and Sokka had finished their plans and were patiently waiting for a moment to interrupt this touching moment. Sokka took the opportunity, "Excuse me! I'm here too you know!"

"Yeah…but I'm pretty sure a boomerang isn't gonna' take that thing down!"

Sokka looked genuinely perturbed but Aang interrupted, "We need Sokka's mind to beat this machine. And he's come up with a plan. A good one."

* * *

Standing in the direct path of the Drill was almost too overwhelming to comprehend. The fire nation had clearly outdone itself this time. The whir of the gigantic metal bit cutting into the largest wall in the world was more than enough to shake someone to their very core. And Katara was definitely not an exception.

It took every ounce of strength she had to will her body into motion. Every nerve tingled and made her feel somewhere between complete alertness and on the verge of mental breakdown.

The four stood their ground before the machine. It felt like a bad joke.

Sokka finally spoke, "So we all know what to do. Toph, can you handle it?"

"Don't you worry about me, I'll slow this thing down the best I can. Just worry about yourselves!"

Aang nodded and knocked a funnel off the bottom of the drill, creating their entrance. He floated in, followed less gracefully by Sokka. Katara lingered, wanting to say something to Toph, but not sure what.

Toph realized the other female of the gang hadn't followed, "Go! They'll die without you!"

The small girl flashed a toothy grin and began to brace herself to grip the underside of the machine, in hopes of slowing its destruction and buying her friends time.

"Wait…Toph, I.."

"Katara there's no time, you gotta' go, now!"

"But I have to tell you something! You didn't believe me earlier, but.."

"Katara! Later, please!"

Toph pushed forward against the metal and remarkably the drill slowed. Clearly it wasn't an easy feat, as beads of sweat immediately began to form on her forehead.

Katara quickly bent them away, knowing that more would soon replace them. But there was no point arguing with someone stubborn enough to even slightly slow down a metal contraption of this magnitude.

"Alright, later then. Promise?"

"I_..err_..pinky swear…_ah,_ now go!"

* * *

Katara pulled herself up into the belly of the beast and looked around for her brother and momentarily (she hoped) ex-friend.

"Katara up here!"

Looking up, she saw Sokka and Aang standing aside a metal pillar they had picked out like it was the perfect holiday tree. Now it was time to chop it down.

She quickly made her way to their side and opened the leather pouch strapped to her hip, bending out a good handful of water. She looked at Aang, he still looked quite pissed.

_Dang…he's been taking lessons on being stubborn from a certain Earth Bender…_

She didn't bother trying to sway him, Aang had been very clear in not wanting to talk about it until later. Between the Avatar and the Blind Bandit refusing to talk about things, Katara was feeling more and more like a child. What was that an angry Gran Gran used to say when she was little? Children are better seen and not heard? She always hated that one…

"Ready Katara?"

Katara snapped out of her thoughts, "Whenever you are, Aang."

Aang put up his hands, ready to catch. Katara shot the water at the Avatar with dizzying speed, hitting the edge of the metal pillar as it passed. Aang returned the water in the same manner. Nothing happened.

The three held their breath as the water was passed back and forth..2..3…4 more times. Then…

Chink!

Even the sour-faced Avatar couldn't help but smile when the first chip into the metal was made.

"Yes! It's working! Good work guys, keep it up!"

And they did...Toph was no longer the only one pouring sweat.

* * *

What felt like hours passed, with nothing but the sound of the water hitting the beams. Aang and Katara were on number eight now. Thankfully, Sokka had realized that if they only cut the beams in half, Aang could hit the top of the drill with a final blow and the rest of the work would be done for them. Aang had been right, they definitely needed Sokka's brain…

The young Water Bender felt exhausted and the Avatar wasn't looking much better. But it seemed like his rage towards Katara was giving him somewhat of an advantage, as she seemed to feel his anger with every catch. She tried to give it back in spades by thinking of her poor Toph, waiting for them to finish their part of the job.

Just when she felt like she might keel over from the strain of intense bending coupled with the heat of the drill, they reached half way through the beam and Sokka yelled for them to stop.

_Oh thank Spirits…_

"Alright, good work guys. Now we go to phase-two. Lets move out!"

But as Katara prepared to do just that, the fire nation girls she had prayed weren't in the Drill appeared in the entryway to the boiler room.

"Look Mai, the cutie came to see us! Heeeey Cutie!"

Katara felt her stomach drop, she turned and saw the girl who haunted her nightmares - clad in pink and completely oblivious to how terrifying she really was. Azula had been the one who tried to kill her, but this girl was the one who would have made it possible…had Toph not shown up.

Sokka, ever alert, whispered to his team, "Aang, get to the roof..it's the only way."

Aang whispered back, "But what about you guys?"

Katara answered for her brother, "Don't worry about us, we'll be fine. Just go."

Aang hesitated a moment as Katara had with Toph. He turned in the opposite direction to flee to the roof. But before he did, he once again placed a hand gently on Katara's shoulder, holding it a moment. Without turning to look, for doing so would be dangerous, Katara placed her hand over Aang's.

A silent moment passed between them. An understanding that if they both survived, things would be okay…eventually. Then Aang removed his hand and was off.

Suddenly Princess Azula herself appeared behind her two minions. Ty Lee exclaimed, "Azula the Avatar is getting away! That's the one you wanted, right?"

"No Ty Lee, we've been spending all this time chasing the flying bison just to make him into a coat."

"Oh…but fur is mean."

Azula grimaced at her "friend's" stupidity, "Just get those two, I'll take care of the Avatar."

Mai let out an exasperated sigh and begin to pull weapons from her long sleeves, "For just two seconds I wanted to ride in the drill without _talking_ about the Avatar, or _tracking_ the Avatar, or _fighting_ for the Avatar…"

"Well Mai, it seems soon you will no longer have to concern yourself with such matters, because there will _be_ no Avatar."

Katara narrowed her eyes at Azula and her cronies; she wasn't going down without a fight. Fool me once, shame on you…She was ready for that Chi blocker this time. She hoped…

The stand off was broken as Azula leaped in the direction of the Avatar. There was no point in following, as the other two girls were quickly giving the Water Tribe siblings chase.

* * *

Katara dragged her brother down a long corridor, where she was heading was anyone's guess but she'd know it when she saw it.

And when she saw it, she almost wished she hadn't. A disgusting slurry of dirt, freshly drilled from the wall of Ba Sing Se, mixed with water and something else that smelled rather foul. Clearly it was flowing somewhere, and wherever it ended up had to be an exit.

Katara pushed her brother in, knowing he would complain if given the option, and followed after. The disgusting mixture quickly carried them away, down the dark and smelly tunnel.

She heard a splash and realized the Chi Blocker had followed them into the sludge. Mai seemed to have opted out, but it was the pink one Katara was really scared of.

_Damn it!_

* * *

Toph felt something change within the Drill. She couldn't "see it" with Earth Bending, but she could feel the pressure shift with her hands. Someone had opened another entrance to the Drill, but where she could not say.

"Alright that's it, I don't know who but _somebody_ needs me!"

Toph raised as much Earth as she could and pushed it into the bottom of the Drill. It would soon break through, but she couldn't be concerned with that anymore. The fight had taken itself outside and she was going to be there to meet it.

* * *

As Katara navigated her way through the dank tunnel with her bending, she felt as if she was in a bad dream. Only instead of being chased by a giant shark-ray, as her nightmares normally did, it was the girl who had only day's prior shaken her to the very foundation of her being. She had to get out, had to stop her predator, save her brother and Aang…and Toph.

_Toph!_

The notion hit Katara like a ton of bricks. Azula was outside, outside and out for blood. She clearly wanted them all out of the way or she wouldn't have told Mai and the pink girl to give chase. Toph wouldn't be able to hear them or feel them coming…

_No…_

The thought gripped Katara tight and wouldn't let go. But suddenly her fear of the Chi Blocker didn't seem so important.

Feeling the flow of the water, she knew they would soon be exiting. But not the girl following them…Katara would make sure of that.

* * *

Toph felt a rushing of water towards the back of the Drill, and clearly a large amount was being dumped if she was able to hear it with her current injuries

"Katara!"

She began to sand skate towards the sound of the water.

* * *

Katara and Sokka were unceremoniously expelled from the tunnel into a heap of dirt, water and other questionable material. Sokka quickly slipped and fell onto his back, letting out a groan. Katara stood her ground and waiting for the girl to appear.

Her heart pounded in her ears. If she didn't time it just right, the Chi Blocker would make it out and the fight would continue. She couldn't let that happen. Her nerves stood on edge as her eyes darted through the sludge pouring from the drill, searching for a sign of the person who had once paralyzed her and left her for dead.

Finally, she appeared.

Katara whipped her hands in front of her as fast as she could, bending back the large amount of water and holding the pink girl in place.

Ty Lee looked confused and struggled to get free. As she stared down, she saw the source of her capture. The Water Tribe peasant was fighting back this time. And it seemed she was winning.

* * *

Toph arrived on the scene soon after, still unable to hear properly and not able to "see" well in the sand. She stood about twenty yards away.

"Katara, that you!"

"Toph! Get over here, you're a sitting duck-pidgeon out there!"

"What!"

Like it was her cue, Mai suddenly appeared behind Toph, ready to attack her blind and injured prey.

Katara saw her begin to strike, as if in slow motion.

_No…_

Katara released her hold on the water blocking the pipe, and holding Ty Lee in place. She rolled across the sand once, and with lightning fast reflexes, sent out a sharp strike of water, just as she had used with Aang to cut the pillars.

The water struck Mai across the hand, slicing her palm and knocking her weapon away. She yelled in pain, alerting Toph to her presence. And it didn't take long for the Earth Bender to take the situation from there…

Katara whipped back around, the water from the back of the drill had nearly hit the ground, therefore freeing Ty Lee. It seemed to be over, but she had to try…

Thrusting her hands out once again, Katara tried to catct the water, vainly attempting to stop it before it reached the sand.

And somehow, it did just that.

Ty Lee looked as shocked as Katara, sure that her freedom had been imminent. The young girl took a slow and tentative step towards the pipe, pushing the water back further. Katara had been called a Master Water Bender, but she wasn't sure she believed it herself. Until now.

It had to be true, because somehow, she was defeating the force of gravity. She was pushing a tital wave of water back into a massive metal pipe.

Toph appeared by her side, panting from her near life threatening experience. She assessed the situation quickly, and blanched. Katara had truly just done something miraculous, and was continuing to do so.

The Earth Bender was finally snapped out of her awe by Katara's labored breathing. She felt the Earth in the slurry that was holding the Chi Bender back and blocking the pipe, and did her part to help ease the load by doing the same as Katara with her own element.

Katara felt he load lighten significantly and turned her head toward Toph.

"You…okay…Toph?"

"Yeah..thanks to you."

Sokka rose from the ground, still dizzy from his fall,

"Good job guys! Toph, when I tell you to, seal the pipe so when Aang gives the final blow the whole thing will go…KABOOM!"

Sokka gesticulated wildly and fell to the ground…again.

The two girls stood side by side, both holding back a massive wave of filth and both exhausted. It was just about too much.

"Katara.."

"Yeah?"

"I have to tell you something, something you probably don't want to hear…."

Katara swallowed hard, almost to tired to be concerned. _Almost_…

"What is it, Toph?"

"You lost the bet."

Katara stared blankly, letting the words resonate through her head, giving them time to find meaning. They did not.

"Bet?"

"Yeah, remember our game? You lost the bet."

_You gotta' be kidding me? Our stupid "game"!_

Katara racked her brain to remember what the bet had been for…or about, but she couldn't for the life of her. All she remembered was needing to break up the date with her and Sokka by any means neccessary, the rest were just trivial details.

"Remind me, would ya? I'm kinda tired believe it or not."

"The bet was: Whoever gets their boy to kiss them first wins a favor. And earlier this evening, I kissed Sokka. So you owe me sista'!"

Katara flashed red with anger for a moment, knowing all too well what a favor owed to Toph could possibly entail. Nothing pleasant. Plus, it was a lie!

She managed to stand up straight from her slouched position.

"You did notToph, I _know_ you didn't kiss him!"

"Oh really? And how would _you_ know that, Katara?"

…

Katara's brain went dumb. Toph stared at her with that perpetual, infuriating smirk of hers.

_It couldn't be…_

"Because uh, Sokka told me he didn't?"

"You're lyinggggg….."

Katara was at a complete loss for words, so instead she lowered her head in shame. It was all over. And of all the moments for Toph to bring it up, the poor girl couldn't even lower her arms.

"So anyways, about that favor."

"You're right Toph, I lied."

"I know…so about the favor…"

_"I know…?"_

Katara's brain was snapped back into action by Toph's nonchalant and Earth shattering words, "You knew?"

"Hm...well, not at first but…"

"You knew MOST OF THE TIME?"

"Well I had a pretty good idea but…thanks for confirming it for me!"

Toph grinned widely at Katara, who quickly slumped forward again. She was humiliated. Caught in a lie, and then left to continue with the lie while Toph knew all along! She deserved it she supposed, the punishment was just.

"So about that favor…"

"Spirits Toph! Okay I get it, I owe you a favor, I owe you _lots_ of favors! I'm a bad person who tricked you and everyone else for my own selfish desires!"

Toph ignored this heated confession, "The favor is…"

Katara was amazed by Toph's lack of anger over the severity of the crime comit upon her.

_Why in the world is she so calm?_

"Fine Toph, whatever you say. What's the favor?"

"The favor is…don't freak out."

…

"Don't freak out?"

Sokka looked up from his spot on the ground and saw Aang fly high above the Drill for his final blow.

"Now Toph!"

In the blink of an eye, Toph sealed the pipe with hardened earth as Aang came down on the Drill. Before Katara could realize what was going on, the small girl had raised them both up on an island of dirt, the pipe exploded and a wave of sludge came crashing down around them…

And Toph had pressed her lips firmly against the Water Bender's.

Katara waited for the moment to be stopped by _something_ – Another explosion, a bout of throwing up, Aang, a drunken escapade, Sokka, waking up from this dream…but seconds passed and Toph remained.

And not only did she remain, but she thrived there. Toph wrapped her small arms around Katara's neck, holding her close to her small frame. Her lips had found new bravery and made their way around Katara's mouth, jaw and face…wanting more.

Katara momentarily pulled away from the kiss. She was happy, but also outraged.

"Are you _kidding_ me Toph? After the hell I've gone through? And then just like this?"

"Hey I've been through hell too, Sugars! And after all your little tricks, I _had_ to make you suffer a little!"

"A little?"

Toph moved in to silence her with another kiss but Katara pulled away yet again.

"Toph I know I did some rotten things, but you completely messed with my head! I confessed my love for you, and you just said I was lying…that really hurt!"

Toph removed her arms from Katara's neck and scratched the back of her head nervously, "Yeah um…I'm sorry about that. That part wasn't for torture…I just, had never felt this way before. About another girl I mean. I was confused I guess…"

Katara saw the truth in Toph's eyes. They had both been confused. Confused and scared. But not anymore.

Katara cupped Toph's cheek and gently moved her face to meet hers. She smiled sweetly, "Never feel scared of me again, okay?"

Toph smirked, "That shouldn't be too hard Sugar Queen, you aren't very scary!"

Katara made her young love shut her big fat mouth by replacing it with her own, which Toph had no problem with. The taller girl pressed her close to her body, as she had at the Wall. Too scared to loosen her grasp, in fear that it wouldn't last.

Toph noticed that Katara smelled terrible from swimming in the garbage that now flowed all around them, and that her entire body had been coated in it. The sight of the _former _clean queen made her chuckle lightly into Katara's kiss.

"What's so funny?"

"You look a little…dirty."

Katara looked down at her appearance and gasped. She indeed looked like crap.

"Oh wow I uh…didn't want to look like this, if _this _ever really ended up happening. _Us_ I mean…" Now it was Katara's turn to look away nervously.

Toph laughed again and bent a stream of the sludge off the ground, splashing it all over herself.

"There, now we match!"

Katara was a bit surprised. Toph did like dirt, but this sludge was just _gruesome_.

"You'd cover yourself in that stuff…for me?"

"Well where I come from we like to like to call it a healthy coating of Earth!"

Katara laughed as Toph patted the mess on her tunic for emphasis. A moment of silence passed between them, the weight of what had just happened between them finally sinking in. Katara had to ask, there couldn't be any more doubt in her mind…

"Toph…are you sure this is what you want? What will your parents say?"

"Katara, if I cared what my parents thought would I even be here right now?"

_Good point…_

"Let me tell you something about Earth Benders, Katara. Water may encompass everything in its path, but it also goes with the flow and cooperates with things. Air is light and graceful, so it easily yields. Fire may be passionate and strong, but it's easily doused out. But earth is different, once it decides where it wants to be, it doesn't move."

Katara stared on, rarely hearing such insightful speeches from the small girl.

"And I've decided that this is where I want to be. Here, with you. So I hope you're okay with that, because I'm not moving."

Tears welled up in Katara's eyes, she couldn't think of anything she wanted to hear more.

"Toph…"

The Water Bender lept forward and engulfed Toph in another tight hug, holding her close and resting her chin on the young girl's shoulder. She turned her head and whispered into her neck.

"Good, because I wouldn't want you anywhere else."

Katara couldn't tell how long her and Toph stayed like that. She cried into her neck with relief and joy and sorrow, and she could have sworn Toph did the same (if only a little). Eventually they were brought back to reality. The Tank had been defeated and everything was back to normal.

Except nothing was back to normal, and never would be again. Toph had made that clear. And Katara certainly wasn't going to argue with the girl she loved. Because finally, there was something that they agreed on. Quite the unexpected complications, but that's how things tended to be between the two.

And Katara wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

**A/N – Well there you have it…the end of the story. Oh gosh, who's chopping onions at this hour! I really hope you guys enjoyed it, this was my first attempt writing fan fic of any kind and I'd love your thoughts on the completed story. My next story is still up for debate in terms of the couple (as long as Aang is involved!). I'm thinking of making the couple a little older than canon in the next story. I felt weird doing anything _too_ mature with this one because I couldn't get around Toph's age. Please tell me your thoughts! Because how often do you get to influence what you read? (answer: not that often!). Thank you all again, it's been great! **


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